NBA Star Pete Chilcutt: Also a Middle School Math and Science Teacher

Many admirable educators were once professional athletes. This is true of former NBA basketball player Pete Chilcutt, who later became a sixth-grade math and science teacher at Folsom Middle School in Folsom, California.

Peter Shawn Chilcutt was born on September 14, 1968, in Sumter, South Carolina. His stepfather was a professor at the University of Alabama, and his mother was a school teacher, too. Pete was raised in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where he attended Tuscaloosa Academy. He was actively recruited by a number of schools, ultimately deciding on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he had won a scholarship. After he graduated, he was selected by the Sacramento Kings in the first round of the NBA Draft in 1991.

At 6'10" and 245 pounds, Pete played the position of forward for seven different teams over a professional career that spanned from 1991 to 2000. He won an NBA Championship in the 1994-1995 season with the Houston Rockets, where he played from 1994-1996. He also played for the Detroit Pistons, the Vancouver Grizzlies, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Utah Jazz. His achievements are particularly amazing when one considers this amazing athlete was born with only one kidney.

Isabelle Salmon Ross: Pioneer Of Utah, and of Physical Education Courses for Women and Special Education Students

Many wonderful teachers were also pioneers in their time. Such is the case of Isabelle Salmon Ross, who was not only a pioneer settler in the Utah Territory in the 1800s, but was also a pioneer of physical education courses for women and special education students during her lifetime.

Isabelle Salmon was born on November 1, 1867, in Perry, Utah Territory. Her parents, William Weir Salmon and Margaret Hay Hunter Salmon, had immigrated from Scotland. Isabelle earned her degree in education at the University of Utah and also attended Harvard University. She became a physical education teacher in the public school system in Salt Lake City, at Brigham Young College, and at the Utah State School for the Deaf and the Blind in Ogden, Utah.

Isabelle was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She served her church in the general presidency of the Primary organization. While working in that capacity, Isabelle met and fell in love with fellow Mormon Charles James Ross. On September 29, 1897, the pair married in the Salt Lake Temple. Her husband was from Ogden and was a member of the general board of the Deseret Sunday School Union. He also served for a time as the manager of Ogden Tabernacle Choir.

In her later life, Isabelle suffered from coronary heart disease, and passed away at the age of eighty on December 28, 1947, in Salt Lake City. She is interred at the Salt Lake City Cemetery.

The Academic Community Mourns the Loss of Chemistry Teacher Ronald Smith, Murdered in Libya

It's always distressing to the academic community when we receive news of the senseless and tragic murder of an American overseas, and especially so when the victim is a distinguished educator. Such was the case yesterday when we learned of the death of Ronald Thomas Smith, II, an American chemistry teacher who has spent more than a year teaching at an international school in Libya. The thirty-three-year-old teacher was shot and killed by Islamic militants Thursday in Benghazi, Libya, as he was taking a morning jog.

Ronald was a member of the faculty of the International School Benghazi. Mr. Peter Hodge, the school's principal, has described the slain educator as "very much loved" at the school.  On the school's Facebook page, officials posted, "He was a much-loved teacher who supported students in their learning and always had time to help when asked. Ronnie was a professional who gave his time freely and without question."

An un-named eighteen-year-old student at the school recalled, "He was the most amazing person, more like a best friend or a family member." The student added that for teenagers who were trying to cope with the turmoil that has troubled the politically unstable country, the teacher was a motivator, telling them that they would be fine if they focused on their studies. "He wasn't just a teacher to all the students, though---he was a brother," recalled Abdulrahman Bader, a sixteen-year-old student, in an email to The Associated Press. "He was the heart of the school."
Originally from Warren, Michigan, Ronald graduated in 1997 from Woods Tower High School. He attended Wayne State University in Detroit before heading to Texas. He graduated in 2006 from the University of Texas, Austin, with a master's degree in chemistry. During his years in Texas, he was active in the Austin Stone Community Church. Approximately a year and a half ago, Ronald began teaching at the International School, a Libyan-owned institution that offers a British curriculum.

He leaves behind a wife and a young son, who had come home to the United States ahead of him to celebrate the holidays. We'll all miss this chalkboard champion.

Our Champion: Nelson Mandela

Tributes are pouring in from all over the globe to praise former South African prisoner and president Nelson Mandela, who passed away yesterday at the age of 95. "We have lost one of the most influential, courageous, and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with on this Earth," said President Barack Obama in a nationally televised address shortly after the news of Nelson’s death was announced. Former President Bill Clinton agreed. "History will remember Nelson Mandela as a champion for human dignity and freedom, for peace and reconciliation," he declared. "We will remember him as a man of uncommon grace and compassion, for whom abandoning bitterness and embracing adversaries was not just a political strategy, but a way of life."

Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, in the village of Mvezo in Umtatu, which at that time was a part of South Africa's Cape Province. A member of the Xhosa group, he was born into the Thembu royal family. At birth he was given the name Rolihlahla, which translated means "troublemaker." On his first day of school, Nelson once recalled, his teacher, Miss Mdingane, gave each student an English name. "This was the custom among Africans in those days, and was undoubtedly due to the British bias of our education," Nelson explained. "That day, Miss Mdingane told me that my new name was Nelson. Why this particular name, I have no idea." Today, the elder statesman is often referred to by his clan name, Madiba.

A big believer in the value of education, Nelson was himself an educated man. As a young child, his mother entrusted Nelson into the care of royal relatives, and while with his Thembu guardians, Nelson was enrolled in a Methodist mission school located next to the palace. At this school he studied the English and Xhosa languages, history, and geography. During this time, Nelson developed a deep appreciation for African culture and history. Later, he attended Clarkebury Boarding Institute in Engcobo, the largest school for black Africans in Thembuland, and then he transferred to Healdtown, the Methodist college in Fort Beaufort attended by most Thembu royalty. Next, Nelson attended the University of Fort Hare, a prestigious public university located in Alice, Eastern Cape, South Africa. At the time of Nelson's enrollment, the University of Fort Hare was a prominent institution of higher education for black Africans. The facility offered a Western-style, academically rigorous education to elite students from across sub-Saharan Africa. Fort Hare alumni were integrally involved in many of the independence movements and governments of newly independent African countries. After Fort Hare, Nelson attended the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, where he studied law. Commonly referred to as Wits University, this institution is the third oldest university in continuous operation in South Africa.

All his life, Nelson was an unwavering supporter and advocate for education. He used his extensive educational background and his personal life experiences to achieve sweeping political changes in South Africa, including the elimination of apartheid. Nelson once said, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Although he was not a teacher in the "certificated" sense, Nelson Mandela taught each one of us how to be a better person, how to treat each other with respect and dignity, and how to make our world a better place. For these amazing accomplishments, he is a truly our champion.

Walter K. Wesbrook: This Chalkboard Champion Was Also A Tennis Great and Track Star

Very often talented athletes go on to become gifted educators and coaches. Such is the case with Walter Kenneth Wesbrook, a champion tennis player from the University of Michigan who became an exceptional coach at Polytechnic High School in Pasadena, California.

Walter was born in 1898 in Detroit, Michigan. After his high school graduation, he attended the University of Michigan, where it quickly became obvious he was a stellar athlete in tennis. The left-hander won the Big Ten doubles title with tennis partner Nicholas Bartz in 1919, and he garnered the singles titles in 1919 and 1920. In 1921, a ruptured appendix kept him from winning the singles title a third time. In addition, in 1920, Walter reached the singles and doubles finals at the Cincinnati Masters Tournament, but he was eliminated in the singles competition in four tough sets to Hennessey. With partner Kenneth Simmons, he lost the doubles final to the team of Hennessey and Fritz Bastian in five sets. By 1921, Walter was named a coach at Michigan, and the one season he was there went 8–3. In 1923, Walter reached the doubles final at the US Clay Court Championship with his tennis partner, John Hennesey. The pair were defeated by brothers  Howard and Robert Kinsey of San Francisco. Later that year, Walter won the Western Lawn Tennis Association championship over George Lott.

In addition to tennis, Walter also competed in the pole vault and long jump for the Michigan Wolverines track team. He could pole vault 12 feet and long jump 23 feet.

After his playing career, Wesbrook became a teacher and tennis coach at the Polytechnic School in Pasadena. He also competed many times in the Senior Olympics, and he still holds numerous national track and field records for the 75-79 and 80-84 age groups.

This chalkboard champion passed away in Los Angeles in January, 1991, at the age of 92.

Loren Spears: Native American Teacher and Cultural Educator

Many talented and dedicated educators work diligently to foster an appreciation for the cultures of under-represented ethnic groups. One such educator is Loren Spears, a teacher, essayist, artist, and tribal council woman of the Narragansett Tribe in Rhode Island.

As a youngster, Loren attended Chariho Regional High School in her home town of Charleston, a rural village in southern Rhode Island. After her high school graduation, she earned her bachelor's degree in elementary education and teaching at the University of Rhode Island, graduating in 1988. She earned her master's degree in education at the University of New England in 2002.

Loren's teaching career spanned two decades and included twelve years as a first grade and fourth grade teacher in the Newport Public School system working with at-risk children. Throughout her professional career, Loren has always been a strong advocate for integrating more Native American history and experiential learning into school curriculum. Loren says she remembers, "being in a history class during my elementary days and actually reading that I supposedly didn't exist, that my family didn't exist, that my people didn't exist." She has spent much of her adult life correcting that misimpression.

In addition to her professional accomplishments as a teacher, Loren works as the executive director and curator of the Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum in Exeter, Rhode Island. The museum was the site of a private, state-certified school, the Nuweetooun School, which this talented educator directed from 2003 to 2010. Nuweetooun, which translates as "Our Home" in the Narragansett language, was founded by Loren with the help of the Narragansett community and generous donations, including monies from a local charity, the Narragansett Tribe, and the Rhode Island Foundation. Though Loren is Narragansett, the school is not connected to any specific tribe. As the school's director, Loren made sure that the Nuweetooun School provided Native American children from kindergarten through the eighth grade an experiential, collaborative curriculum based on Native American traditions and culture, as well as standard academic subjects including mathematics, language arts, social studies, science, and health.

In June, 2005, Loren received the Feinstein Salute to Teachers, Teacher of the Month. In 2006, she earned the Native Heritage Gathering Award, and in 2010, Loren was chosen as one of eleven Extraordinary Women honorees for Rhode Island in the area of education. Today, this chalkboard champion lives in Providence, Rhode Island, and uses her vast energy to focus on educating the public on indigenous issues, arts, culture, and history through cultural arts programming, lectures, art classes, inter-generational programming, grant writing, exhibit development and design, curriculum development, school design, Native American education, and educational consulting.

Leonard Skinner: The Physical Education Teacher That Inspired the Band Lynyrd Skynyrd

Many talented and dedicated educators earn recognition in fields outside of education, but occasionally a great teacher becomes known for the accomplishments of his students. Such was the case of Florida physical education teacher Leonard Skinner, who inspired his former students to name their band after him. The band's name? Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Forby Leonard Skinner was born January 11, 1933, in Jacksonville, Florida. As a youngster he attended Robert E. Lee High School, where he graduated in 1951. Leonard enrolled in Jacksonville Junior College on a basketball scholarship, but his education was cut short when he was drafted into the US Army. After he was discharged, Leonard enrolled at Florida State University, where he earned his bachelor's degree in physical education in 1957.

Leonard first taught at Glynn Academy in Glynn County, Georgia, but for most of his career, he was a physical education at his alma mater, Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville, Florida. Among his former students were several members of the band Lynyrd Skynyrd, including Ronnie Van Zant, Gary Rossington, and Bob Burns, who were students at Robert E. Lee in the 1960s.
According to legend, Leonard's strict enforcement of a policy against long hair inspired the members to name their band after him. The gym teacher, a stickler for by-the-book procedures, sent Rossington and others to the principal's office for violating a school policy prohibiting long hair. Over time, Burns, Rossington, and other band members developed a series of running jokes about their teacher, until ultimately they decided to pay tongue-in-cheek homage to their flat-topped coach by renaming their group Lynyrd Skynyrd. When interviewed in January, 2009, Leonard abashedly told reporters he was just following the district policy. "It was against the school rules," he said. "I don't particularly like long hair on men, but again, it wasn't my rule." Of his former students, Leonard remembered, "They were good, talented, hard-working boys. They worked hard, lived hard and boozed hard."

Towards the end of his career, Leonard taught at Jacksonville Technical High School, where he retired in 1970. During his retirement, he became a real estate broker and tavern owner, but he maintained contact with his former students. In 1975, he even allowed the band to use a photograph of his "Leonard Skinner Realty" sign for the inside of their third album, Nuthin' Fancy. The band also performed at his tavern called The Still.
In January 2009, Leonard's home town of Jacksonville hosted an event called "A Tribute to Coach Leonard Skinner & Southern Rock" at the National Guard Armory. At the time, the Jacksonville newspaper wrote, "He was just a regular Westside guy, a coach and businessman with a strong code of honor, a disciplinarian at home and at school."
On September 20, 2010, Leonard passed away at a nursing home in Riverside, Florida. He was 77, and had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease for several years. In his obituary, The Florida Times-Union called him "the no-nonsense, flat-topped basketball coach and gym teacher whose name is forever linked with Jacksonville's legendary Lynyrd Skynyrd." The New York Times described him as "arguably the most influential high school gym teacher in American popular culture."