The Adventurous Crystal Brilliant Snow Jenne: Teacher and Alaskan Pioneer

Alaska’s history abounds in stories about lionhearted pioneers who were also chalkboard champions. One such teacher was Crystal Brilliant Snow Jenne.


Crystal Jenne was born on May 30, 1884, in Sonora, California. In 1887, when only three years old, she emigrated to the Alaska Territory with her parents, who worked as a troupe of actors who entertained Alaska’s gold miners. When her father joined the Klondike Gold Rush, the family moved to Circle City, where her father built an opera house. At one point, Crystal’s father discovered gold, so the family moved to Seattle, Washington. Unfortunately, her father lost his investments, and so the Snows returned to the Alaska Territory.


For a number of years, Crystal’s mother tutored her, but the child was ten years old before she was enrolled in school for the first time. She attended an Alaskan mission school, where she learned “singing, praying, and knitting.” When the family moved to Juneau, Crystal was sixteen. Despite her age, she was placed in a fifth grade class. Being behind in formal education did not stop Crystal from achieving,  however. She graduated from Juneau High School in 1905 at the age of twenty-one, the only member of her class.


Following her high school graduation, Crystal enrolled in the University of California, Berkeley, where she majored in music. She also earned a teaching certificate. After her college graduation, Crystal taught in Paso Robles, California. From 1907 to 1908, Crystal taught school in Douglas, Alaska. A talented musician, Crystal performed creekside concerts for gold miners in the Alaska and Yukon Territories when she was not in the classroom.


Always thirsty for knowledge, the venturesome teacher attended the Spencerian Commercial School in Cleveland, Ohio, where she studied business and shorthand. Following her graduation from business school, Crystal returned to Alaska, where she continued her career in education, teaching in Skagway, Sitka, and the Mendenhall Valley, and also at her alma mater, Juneau High School.


In 1916, Crystal married Dr. Charles Percival Jenne, a Juneau dentist, and the couple had three children. Their daughter, Corrine Bertha, was born in 1918; their second child, Charles Jacob, was born in 1919; and their daughter, Phyllis Mae, was born in 1921. Even after she started her family, Crystal continued to teach and give concerts. In 1923, she performed her mother’s composition, Alaska and the U.S.A., for President Warren G. Harding and First Lady Florence Harding, during their visit to Juneau.


Charles Jenne passed away in 1938. The next year, Crystal published a volume of historical poetry.Meanwhile, she pursued community activities, participating in church choirs, running a flower shop, and continuing with her teaching career. In 1940, this remarkable educator was elected to the Alaska Territorial House of Representatives on the Democratic ticket. She was the first woman to run for representative in the Alaska Legislature. She served several terms representing the First District of Southeast Alaska.


During her lifetime, Crystal was a member of the Alaska Federation of Women’s Clubs, the Democratic Women’s Club, the Juneau Women’s Club, and the National Business and Professional Women’s Club. She passed away on June 5, 1969, at the Sitka Pioneer Home.

Chalkboard Champion and Pioneer Aviatrix Willa Brown

Many exceptional teachers use their instructional expertise to work with students outside of the classroom. Willa Brown, the first African American woman licensed to fly in the United States, is an excellent example of this.

Willa was born January 22, 1906, in Glasgow, Kentucky. She earned her degree in education from Indiana State Teachers College in 1927. She also completed the requirements for an MBA from Northwestern University in 1937. Following her college graduation, Willa was employed as a high school teacher at Roosevelt High School in Gary, Indiana, and later as a social worker in Chicago.

Willa was always seeking challenges and adventures in her life, especially if they could be found outside the limited career fields normally open to African Americans at that time. She decided to learn to fly, studying with Cornelius R. Coffey, a certified flight instructor and expert aviation mechanic at a racially segregated airport in Chicago. Willa earned her private pilot's license in 1938. Later, Willa and Cornelius married and founded the Coffey School of Aeronautics at Harlem Airport in Chicago, where together they trained black pilots and aviation mechanics. Willa conducted the classroom instruction and Cornelius conducted the in-flight practice.

In 1939, Willa, Cornelius, and their friend Enoch P. Waters founded the National Airmen's Association of America. Their goal was to secure admission for black aviation cadets into the US military. As the organization's national secretary and the president of the Chicago branch, Willa became an activist for racial equality. She persistently lobbied the US Government for integration of black pilots into the segregated Army Air Corps and the federal Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP), a system established by the Civil Aeronautics Authority just before the outbreak of World War II. The CPTP's purpose was to provide a pool of civilian pilots for use during national emergencies. Willa was given the rank of an officer in this first integrated unit. In 1948, when Congress finally voted to allow separate-but-equal participation of blacks in civilian flight training programs, the Coffey School of Aeronautics was one of a select few private aviation schools selected for participation. Later, her flight school was selected by the US Army to provide black trainees for the Air Corps pilot training program at the Tuskegee Institute. Willa was instrumental in training more than 200 students who went on to become Tuskegee pilots. Eventually, Willa Brown became the coordinator of war-training service for the Civil Aeronautics Authority and a member of the Federal Aviation Administration's Women's Advisory Board. She was the first black female officer in the Civil Air Patrol and the first black woman to hold a commercial pilot's license in the United States.

This remarkable educator and pioneer aviatrix passed away on July 18, 1992. In 2010, Willa was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award by the Indiana State University Alumni Association. She was inducted into the Aviation Hall of Fame in her native Kentucky in 2003. To find out more about this remarkable chalkboard champion, you can read a chapter about her in my next book, tentatively titled Chalkboard Heroes, which is scheduled for publication later this year.

Last Letters From Attu: The Story of Chalkboard Champion Etta Schureman, Prisoner of War

Teacher Etta Schureman was over forty years old when she and her sister ventured into Alaska Territory to teach Native Eskimos in primitive rural schools. After one year, the sister returned to the Lower 48, but Etta, who had met Foster Jones, the love of her life and married, settled permanently in Alaska.

Eighteen years later, Etta and her husband were working together in the remote Aleutian island of Attu when Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Empire of Japan on December, 7, 1941, "a day that will live in infamy." They were slated to be evacuated by the U.S. Navy when the island was invaded by Japanese troops. Although the couple were in their sixties, Japanese soldiers killed Foster and removed Etta to an internment camp in Japan, where she was incarcerated with a small group of Australian nurses who were also prisoners of war. The Attuan natives, about three dozen of them, were also taken to Japan, with the apparent intention of assimilating them into the Japanese population. Although the surviving Attuans were repatriated after the war, Etta never saw her students or their families again.

Etta's intriguing tale of survival is told brilliantly by Mary Breu in her book Last Letters from Attu: The True Story of Etta Jones: Alaska Pioneer and Japanese POW. A fascinating read, to be sure. You can find this book at amazon at the following link: Last Letters from Attu. I have also included a chapter about this fascinating teacher in the book I am currently writing, Chalkboard Heroes.

Former Elementary Teacher Ann Stock Once Served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs

Often successful educators gain recognition in professions other than education. When this happens, the professions are very often related to their former careers as teachers. Such is the case for former elementary school teacher Ann Stock, an Indiana native who served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs between 2010 and 2013.


Ann Stock graduated from Jefferson High School in Lafayette, Indiana, in 1964, and then earned her bachelor's degree in elementary education from Purdue University. After she graduated form college, she worked as an elementary school teacher, and then as a flight attendant for Pan American Airlines, where she was based in Washington D C. During the 1980 presidential elections,  the ambitious educator served as deputy press secretary for Vice President Walter Mondale. She then became Vice President of Corporate Communications and Public Relations for Bloomingdale's Department Stores, where she worked for ten years. In 1993, President Bill Clinton selected Ann to be his White House Social Secretary, a position she held until 1997. From September 1997 to June 2010, she served as the Vice President of Institutional Affairs at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. 


In 2010, President Barack Obama named Ann Stock as his Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). After a Senate confirmation hearing, she was sworn in on June 23, 2010. Ann once explained that the primary goal of the ECA is to bring together students and professionals from around the country and throughout the globe in the hope of building stronger relationships between the countries. The organization sponsors many programs for international education exchanges which promote cultural learning and mutual understanding. Its best-known program is the Fulbright Scholar Program. Since the organization was established, more than one million people have participated in ECA exchange programs, including more than fifty Nobel Laureates and over three-hundred-fifty current or former heads of state and government.


The former teacher retired from her position last summer.


Ann Stock: A true chalkboard champion.

Nantucket Coach Beau Almodobar: He's A Former NFL Player

Many talented athletes go on to become coaches after their careers as professional players are complete. Such is the case with Beau Almodobar, a junior high school physical education teacher who once played for the National Football League. He is pictured here, center, with two of his players.

Beau was born born October 25, 1962, in San Francisco, California. He played college football for the Norwich University Cadets. Norwich, also known as The Military College of Vermont, is a private university located in Northfield, Vermont. It is the oldest private military college in the United States. At 5'9" and 180 pounds, Beau played the position of wide receiver for the Cadets. After he graduated from the university, he played one season with the New York Giants as a replacement player. That was in 1987.

Beau currently teaches physical education and health at Cyrus Pierce Middle School in Nantucket, Massachusetts. He has served as the Head Varsity Coach for basketball in the Nantucket Public School system, and also coaches football for the Nantucket High School Whalers. A well-rounded athlete, Beau also runs ACKventure summer camps for baseball and basketball for Nantucket youth.

Well done, Beau!

Instructional Resources for Teaching About Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The celebration of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on Monday, January 20, offers educators a really great opportunity to share the story of this great historical figure. Dr. King was much more than a civil rights leader. Among his many interests, he was also a passionate advocate of education and life-long learning, and an avid student of history who urged his fellow citizens to appreciate and gain a thorough understanding of history to avoid repeating it. He once said, "We are not makers of history. We are made by history."

To aid classroom teachers with their MLK Day presentations, here are some instructional resources to consider for your use:

Scholastic. Biographical information, plays, memorable quotes, interactive timeline, book lists, lesson plans, reproducibles. Grade levels K-12. www.scholastic.com 

Teacher Vision. Biographical information, educational videos, printables, lesson plans, activities, art projects, quizzes, references. Also, many resources for African American history and Black History Month. Grade levels K-12. www.teachervision.com

PBS. Resources to teach the life and impact of Martin Luther King. Videos, lesson plans, Civil Rights glossary, interactive timeline, personal narratives. Grades 7-12. www.pbs.org


NEA. Background resources, videos, printables, lesson plans, activities, crossword puzzles, quizzes. Grades K-12. www.nea.org

Susan Dryden Whitson: The Former High School English Teacher Who Became the Press Secretary to First Lady Laura Bush

Many talented educators pursue successful careers outside the profession of teaching. One example of this is Susan Dryden Whitson, a high school English teacher from Birmingham, Alabama, who also served as the press secretary to First Lady Laura Bush. “Mrs. Bush and I are both educators, so we share the common belief that education and literacy are the foundation of opportunity,” Susan once said. “Working for Mrs. Bush has afforded me the chance to talk about the issues important to her, but which are also important to me.”


Susan earned her bachelor’s degree in secondary education language arts from Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama, in 1991. As a young co-ed, she was a member of the War Eagle Girls and Plainsmen and the Student Government Association. After graduating from Auburn, Susan accepted a position in her native Birmingham to teach ninth and tenth grade English at Hoover High School. She was employed there for six years. While there, Susan was the ninth-grade English teacher to 2006 American Idol winner Taylor Hicks.


In 1997, at the end of a temporary summer appointment with then Representative Bob Riley, she was offered a position as his press secretary. She considered the offer ”an opportunity too good to pass up.” In the eight years that followed, she served as a press secretary on Capitol Hill for numerous government officials, including two US representatives, a deputy director of the Office of Public Affairs at the US Department of Justice, a chief of the FBI’s National Press Office, and a deputy communications director for the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign.  She was appointed by Mrs. Bush as the First Lady’s press secretary in 2005, and worked in that capacity until 2007.


The former English teacher currently serves on the Auburn Campaign Committee for the Washington metro area. Susan and her husband, Keir Whitson, live in Rappahannock County, Virginia.


“I’ve held a lot of titles over the years,” Susan once declared, ”but the one I am most proud of is teacher.”