Chalkboard Champion Sondra Erickson Served in Minnesota State Legislature

Many talented educators have achieved success in fields other than education. One such chalkboard champion is Sondra Erickson, a retired English teacher who was employed at Princeton High School in Princeton, Minnesota. This amazing woman also served as a state legislator in the Minnesota House of Representatives.

Sondra was born in 1942, and raised in Taft, North Dakota. She graduated from Hillsboro High School, and then from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, earning her bachelor's degree in English. She attended graduate school at the University of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The talented educator served on the Minnesota Board of Teaching from 1992 to 1997, bringing her "students first" philosophy to the table.

First elected to the state legislature in 1998, Sondra was re-elected in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006, and served until 2008. Sondra carried her interest in educational matters with her into her new position. She worked tirelessly on the committees for education policy and education finance.

Teacher, Coach, and Counselor Herb Banet: The Chalkboard Champion Who Was Also A Football and Basketball Star

When we think of chalkboard champions, let's not forget all of our nation's talented coaches. These dedicated professionals work many long hours with our young people, teaching them the value of self-discipline, healthy competition, fair play, and teamwork, and helping them to choose a healthy, active lifestyle. One such chalkboard champion in Herb Bane, a high school teacher, basketball coach, and guidance counselor from Fort Wayne, Indiana. 

 

Herb was born in 1913 in Fort Wayne. As a high school student, he was a gifted athlete. At 6'2" and 200 pounds, he earned All-City Honors in both football and basketball. After his graduation from Fort Wayne South High School in 1933, he attended Manchester University in North Manchester, Indiana, where he played collegiate football. While at Manchester, Herb played All-Conference Football and All-State Football in 1934, 1935, and 1936. During the 1937 season, Herb played in the National Football League with the Green Bay Packers. He was also a war hero. When World War II broke out, Herb served his country in the U.S. Navy.

 

These experience served him well during his eighteen-year career as a coach at Central High School in Fort Wayne. While coaching there, his team made one trip to the Final Four in 1960, where they were defeated by just one point by East Chicago Washington. Later in Herb's career he served as a guidance counselor at Northrup High School. This talented educator retired in 1979. In recognition of his illustrious career as an athlete, he was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000.

Herb Banet passed away in 2003 at the age of 89 and is buried at Falls Memorial Gardens in Wabash, Indiana. It is certain that his efforts as a gifted teacher, coach, and counselor will always be well-remembered.

Harriette Arnow: The Spokesperson for Impoverished Appalachian Dwellers

Many times talented teachers earn recognition in fields other than education. One such educator was Harriette Arnow, a public school teacher who also earned fame as an American novelist.

Harriette has been called spokesperson on the people of the southern Appalachian Mountains, although she loved cities and spent important periods of her life in both Cincinnati, Detroit, and Ann Arbor. This remarkable woman was born on July 7, 1908, in Monticello, Kentucky. She was the daughter of two teachers, and decided to pursue a career in teaching for herself. But she also wanted to write. After her high school graduation, Harriette attended Berea College in Kentucky for two years before transferring to the University of Louisville.

Following her college graduation, this talented woman worked for two years as a teacher in rural Pulaski County, and then one year in a more remote area of Appalachia. She then relocated to Cincinnati, Ohio, where she began publishing her short stories. In 1936, Harriette published her first novel, Mountain Path, basing it on her experiences as a teacher.

Harriet lived in Cincinnati from 1934 to 1939, working for the Federal Writer's Project of the WPA, where she met her future husband, Harold B. Arnow, the son of Jewish immigrants. After their marriage, they lived briefly in Pulaski County, close to where Harriette was born. While in Pulaski County, she  continued to work as a public school teacher. In 1944, the couple moved to Detroit, Michigan, accepting housing in a public housing complex. During this time, her 1949 novel, Hunter's Horn, became a best seller and received considerable critical acclaim, finishing close to A Fable written by William Faulkner in that year's voting for the Pulitzer Prize.

In 1950, Harriette and her husband relocated to Ann Arbor, Michigan. There she published her most famous work, The Dollmaker, in 1954. The novel was about an impoverished Kentucky family forced by economic necessity to move to Detroit. The plot reflected her own life story, but it also depicted the experiences of many people living in the Appalachians who migrated to the industrialized north to seek a better life.

Harriette Arnow, remarkable teacher and talented author, died in 1986 at the age of 77, at her farm in Washtenaw County, Michigan.

Elaine Kontominas Alquist: The Math Teacher Who Became a State Senator

Many chalkboard champions have gone on to serve their communities as politicians. One such individual is Elaine Kontominas Alquist.

Elaine Alquist was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 21, 1944. She earned her bachelor's degree in mathematics from MacMurray College, Illinois, in 1966, and her master's degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1967. She was employed as a teacher of algebra and trigonometry, and also worked as a school counselor in Chicago public schools. In 1981 she was elected PTA president, and in 1983 she served eight years as first a member and then the president of the Cupertino Union School District Board of Education. During her tenure there, Elaine initiated the district's Disaster Preparedness Plan and helped to develop the district's first Strategic Long Range Plan for the district's 12,000 students.

In 1996 Elaine became the first Greek American woman elected to the California State Legislature. She was re-elected to two consecutive terms in 1998 and 2000. In the legislature, she made made it a priority to fight for improved health care for Californians, co-authoring Healthy Families legislation that extended health coverage for California's uninsured children.

As a former high school math teacher, guidance counselor, school board member, and member of the California Post Secondary Education Commission, Elaine has been  recognized by her peers  in the legislature as an expert on education policy. She has dedicated herself to improving students' math skills, authoring legislation that provided $28 million for staff development of mathematics teachers over the last two fiscal years. Currently, she is working on legislation to improve the funding for California's students and to provide tax incentives for vocational programs and life-long learning through her Graduate Education Opportunity Act legislation.

Elaine Alquist was elected to the California State Senate in November 2004 and is currently serving as State Senator for District 13. She was re-elected to a second term in 2008. Her final term ended in 2012.

Julia Richman: The Chalkboard Champion of Eastern European Immigrants

Julia Richman was a truly remarkable educator of the late 1800s. The daughter of Jewish immigrant parents, Julia declared at a surprisingly early age that she would reject the traditional role of wife and mother and opt for a career in teaching instead. At 15, she enrolled in college courses at New York City's Female Normal College, the precursor to Hunter College, graduating fourth in her class in 1872. She then devoted the next forty years of her life to teaching and improving the lives of the Jewish immigrant students who were entrusted to her care, first as their teacher, later as a principal, and finally as a district superintendent.

During her tenure, Julia Richman pioneered innovative programs for handicapped students, English-language learners, and troubled youth, and she instituted vocational education programs, and much-needed courses in health and hygiene. Many of her innovations are common practice in schools throughout the country today. In addition to her work in the schools, Julia worked indefatigably to better the lives of New York's Eastern European immigrants through the Educational Alliance, the most important Jewish charitable organization located in Manhattan's Lower East Side.

A wonderful book about Julia Richman was recently published by scholar Selma Cantor Berrol; the book is entitled Julia Richman: A Notable Woman. You can find this book on the web site for Barnes and Noble and also on amazon.com. I have also devoted a chapter of my book, Chalkboard Champions, to this most extraordinary educator. My book can be found at amazon.com at the following link: http://www.amazon.com/Chalkboard-Champions.

Maxine Hong Kingston: Chinese American Chalkboard Champion

Many people are familiar with the famous author Maxine Hong Kingston. She wrote The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, a critically-acclaimed autobiographical account in which Maxine details the conflicting cultural messags she received as the daughter of Chinese immigrants growing up in America in the 1950s. She also wrote China Men, Tripmaster Monkey, The Fifth Book of Peace, and Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace. But did you know that this talented writer is also a teacher?

Maxine earned her bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1962, and then obtained her teaching credential. She taught high school in the city of Hayward for a year, and then moved to Hawaii where she taught in various positions. From 1970 to 1977 she taught at Mid-Pacific Institute, a private boarding school. In 1990, she was invited to joint the faculty of her alma mater, UC Berkeley, as a senior lecturer in the English department. This remarkable educator was honored by President Bill Clinton with a National Humanities Medal in 1997. She has also recieved a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Asian American Literary Awards (2006), and a Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the National Book Foundation (2008).

Martin Badoian: A Mathematical Chalkboard Champion

One absolutely amazing chalkboard champion is Martin Badoian. He is currently a math teacher at Canton High School in Canton, Massachusetts. Born in 1928, Martin attended Brown University, where he graduated in 1952. During his college years, he excelled in athletics, particularly in baseball, basketball, and golf. He was named Outstanding Tri-Captain Athlete at Brown University, and has also garnered awards at the state and regional level for his athletic accomplishments.

Martin's career as a professional educator has spanned 54 years. Currently, he teaches math at Canton High School in Canton, Massachusetts, where he has worked for 45 years. Prior to that, he spent several years as an educator at Milford Prep in Connecticut, and Brockton High School.  At Canton High, Martin founded and currenlty serves as the coach of the Canton High School math team, a group that can boast an outstanding record, capturing at least nineteen New England championships and 14 state championships. This is especially impressive since the school's enrollment is less than 1,000; the school is considerably smaller than many of its competitors. Martin serves as the director of New England Math Meet, the New Englad Mathematics League, and the Greater Boston Mathematics League. Also, he is a co-founder and the current vice-president of the American Regions Mathematiccs League.

Martin has earned a great deal of recognition in the educational field. He was named Massachusetts Teacher of the Year in 1977, the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teacher, and he has been named a national Tandy Scholar.

Martin Badoian, a true chalkboard champion.