Chalkboard Champion Bill Holden: He Talks the Talk and Walks the Walk

Often classroom teachers become advocates for social issues that extend far beyond their classroom. Such is the case with teacher Bill Holden, an educator who has worked tirelessly to increase awareness about the problem of juvenile diabetes.

Bill was born in 1948 in Elgin, Illinois. He earned his degree from Southern Illinois University in 1970. Bill accepted his first position as a teacher in 1973, but soon became interested in working with Native American students. After teaching many years in Illinois, he transferred to Camp Verde, Arizona. At Camp Verde, Bill became aware of the alarming rate of diabetes among his Native American students. Bill retired after 32 years in the classroom, but he was not done dedicating his energy to benefit his students. He decided to focus his vast energy on helping to find a cure for juvenile diabetes.

In 2005, Bill literally walked from Arizona to Chicago, a distance of 2,100 miles, with the goal of raising $250,000 in donations for the American Diabetes Association to fund research to find a cure for juvenile diabetes. Bill started his walk on January 11, 2005, walking through the states of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Illinois. Along the way he battled arthritis in both knees, fatigue, sunburn, windburn, and stifling heat, and once he was nearly hit by a car. It took the dedicated teacher six months to complete the walk, but the effort garnered him national attention.

Bill Holden is certainly a true chalkboard champion.

Technology, the Classroom, and the Future of Chalkboard Champions

Many years ago in a language arts anthology assigned as a textbook for a class I was teaching, I came across a short story by Isaac Asimov  entitled "The Fun They Had." This futuristic story described two children who had an afternoon free because their "teacher," a computer, had crashed, temporarily rendering it impossible for them to complete their school assignments. To occupy their time, the children went up to the attic to explore, where they came across a dusty trunk of ancient printed books. As residents of a highly technological society where every function was completed by computer, they had never seen books before. The find generated a conversation between the children about how students in the past attended schools with other children, interacted on a daily basis with a human teacher, and conducted their studies with print materials. At the end of their discussion, the children concluded that children of the past must have had much more fun in school than they.

The grass is always greener, isn't it?

I have been thinking about this somewhat prophetic story a great deal lately, and especially since I have recently enrolled in an online course through the local university. The course is run much the same way as the lessons completed by the students in the Asimov story. The professor posts the readings and the assignments. The assignment usually entails downloading a program from the internet and using the program to create a product that demonstrates both knowledge of the content contained in the readings and a mastery of the technology skills. The student posts the completed assignment on a class discussion board, where classmates view it and offer peer critiques. There is no direct instruction, no guided practice. The professor's role appears to be to make the assignments, grade the finished products, and be available in case the student has questions.

I know I'm not a child, but I find myself craving more. More direct instruction. More guided practice. More face-to-face time with the teacher; more human interaction with my classmates.

The other day, I became engaged in conversation with a student at a different university. We talked about the use of technology in our respective university courses. I related that on the first day of another course I had enrolled in, a course that meets for four hours every other week (attendance is optional), I was surprised when the instructor commented that she had expected everyone to show up with their laptops. I had dutifully shown up with my notebook, paper, pen, and textbook, and considered myself prepared. Not having taken a university course in about five years, it had never occurred to me that bringing a laptop was now an instructional expectation. That was a wake-up call for me.

The other student told me that she recently took a course in chemistry at a prestigious local university, and on the first day of class, 24 students showed up. Twelve did not have laptops. The instructor excused those twelve, because, he said, there was no way they could complete that day's assignments without the necessary technology. She said two people dropped the class that day, and four more dropped it by the next week, because they had no way of acquiring the technology. The young lady then told me that the entire course was taught by computer. How is it that a chemistry class does not involve a lab, or experiments, or any other kind of experiential learning?

In a highly technological society where more and more courses are being taught online, will there be a place for chalkboard champions?

H. Adams Carter: High School Language Teacher, Pioneering Mountaineer, Journalist, and Patriot

Often talented educators earn recognition for achievements outside the realm of teaching. Such is the case with Hubert Adams Carter, a high school foreign language teacher, mountain climber, and journalist from Massachusetts.

Hubert, who was most often called "Ad," was born on June 6, 1914, in Newton, Massachusetts. He graduated from Milton Academy in Milton, Massachusetts, in 1932, and from Harvard University in 1936.

Ad was very young when he began his career as a mountain climber. He made his first notable ascent at the age of five when he climbed Mount Washington in New Hampshire. Ten years later he climbed the Matterhorn, and he also began making ascents near Kandersteg in the Swiss Alps. In 1936, during his senior year at Harvard, Ad was a member of the British-American Himalayan expedition that climbed India's Mount Nandevi for the first time. In 1937, this amazing athlete was named to the US Ski Team, competing in the Alpine World Skiing Championships. The following year he participated in the Pan American Championships.

In 1938, Ad married fellow teacher Ann Brooks, pictured with him above. The union produced three sons and a daughter and lasted 53 years.

During World War II, Ad assisted with the establishment and training of the 10th Mountain Division. A talented linguist, he translated material in German, Italian, French, and Spanish for use in writing the first army manuals on mountain warfare. He also interrogated Japanese and German prisoners of war. For these valuable services, Ad was given a Commendation for Meritorious Civilian Service in 1945.

After the war, Ad returned to school. He earned his master's degree from Middlebury College in 1947, and then accepted a position as a teacher of foreign languages at his alma mater, Milton Academy. He taught German, French, and Spanish. He also founded the school's Ski and Mountaineering Club, which today is known as the H. Adams Carter Outdoor Program. The dedicated teacher often used his vacation home in Jefferson, New Hampshire, as a base camp for school field trips to the White Mountains.

In addition to teaching, from 1954 to 1958, Ad contributed his expertise as an officer of the American Alpine Club, and from 1960 to 1995, he served as the editor for the American Alpine Journal, a position he held for 35 years. Under his leadership, the Journal became one of the most prominent  journals of record for mountaineering in the world.

Ad retired from the teaching profession in 1970 after 23 years as an educator. This chalkboard champion, journalist, and talented athlete passed away on April 2, 1995, at the age of 80, from an embolism.

Terry Marzell Discusses the Contents of Her Book, Chalkboard Champions

Terry Marzell discusses the contents of her book, Chalkboard Champions, published in 2012. Specifically she mentions teachers Jaime Escalante, the educator featured in the movie Stand and Deliver, and Anne Sullivan, the "miracle worker" who worked with blind and deaf student Helen Keller. Listen to the screencast to learn more...

 

 

Elementary Teacher Bonnie Bracey Sutton: An Educators' Spokesperson in Washington, D.C.

How wonderful it is when one of our fellow educators becomes a spokesperson in Washington for our profession. One such educator is Bonnie Bracey Sutton, an elementary school teacher and technology consultant now based in Washington, D.C.

Bonnie is a former teacher at the Ashlawn Elementary School in Arlington, Virginia, and a teacher-in-residence at the Arlington Career Center, where she teaches all subjects. She is a graduate researcher at George Mason University's Telecommunications Department, where she evaluates new programs and technologies. She is also a member of the George Lucas Educational Foundation advisory board.

Bonnie was also named a Christa McAuliffe Educator for the National Foundation of Education, and she is a member of the Challenger Center faculty. She is a Young Astronaut teacher and, in 1990, was named a Challenger Fellow. That year she received the President's Award in Teaching in science. Bonnie has also attended the Hubbell Space Science Institute and holds honors in a variety of fields in educational fields, including technology, aerospace, physics, geography, and multicultural education. She has also earned a graduate degree from Marymount University SED program.

Bonnie was one of the first teachers to promote the role of the internet in classroom instruction.  She was the only teacher selected by the Clinton administration to serve on the National Information Infrastructure Advisory Council (NIIAC). Bonnie also served as the lead educator on President Clinton's 21st Century Teacher Initiative.

Currently, this remarkable teacher works as an international educational consultant. In this capacity, she conducts outreach activities for the George Lucas Education Foundation and other groups. She is also an active member of the Digital Divide Network and does preventative work on cyber-bullying.

Bonnie Bracey Sutton: Truly a chalkboard champion!

Remembering Larry W. Haws: High School Math Teacher, Four-Sport Coach, and Member of the Minnesota House of Representatives

Often times talented educaters go on to become very successful politicians. Such is the case with Larry William Haws, a high school math teacher and four-sport coach who was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives.

Larry was born January 12, 1940, in the southwestern Minnesota town of Tracy. After he graduated from Mankato Loyola High School, he enrolled at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud. He earned his bachelor's degree in Recreation and Biology. He also earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics and another in biology from Minnesota State University, Mankato.

After his college graduation, Larry taught at Cathedral High School in St. Cloud. He was also a youth coach for five sports: wrestling, track and field, cross-country, football, and soccer. He left his position at the high school to join the city's Parks and Recreation Department, where he worked for 32 years. In his position there, Larry coached at both the high school and collegiate levels, where he took several teams to state and national championships. "My claim to fame," Larry once remarked, "was I coached the reformatory wrestling team for three years. I said we weren't very good, but we had a killer instinct."
 Larry was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in a 2005 special election held to replace Representative Joe Opatz, who had resigned to become the interim president of Central Lakes College in Brainerd. Larry had coached Opatz in wrestling when Opatz was a student. A Democrat, Larry represented District 15B in the north central part of the state. The former teacher was re-elected in 2006 and 2008. While in the House, one of the committees Larry worked on was the committee for higher education. He was also a member of the Citizens Advisory Committee on Finance for School District 742. Of his work in the legislature, Larry once remarked that he was proud of the work he accomplished with Governor Tim Pawlenty and Representative Dan Severson in 2007. The group passed a major veterans benefits bill on behalf of Viet Nam veterans. Many of these veterans, recalled Larry, had been youngsters he had coached when they were children.

This remarkable educator and politician was diagnosed with brain cancer in January, 2011. He passed away on March  27, 2012.

Besse Cooper: The Tennessee Chalkboard Champion Who Set a World Record

Many educators have earned notoriety for accomplishments outside the field of education. Such is the case with Besse Cooper, a retired school teacher who was famous as the oldest living person in the world until she passed away on June 21, 2011.

Besse was born on August 26, 1896, in Sullivan County, Tennessee. She was the third of eight children born to Richard Brown and Angeline Berry. When she was only five years old, Besse used to walk from her family’s home to school in order to make sure one of her brothers got to class. Her time in the classroom developed into a deep appreciation for school. All of her life, even at a young age, she was an avid reader.

In 1916, Besse graduated from East Tennesee State Normal School, an insitution now known as East Tennesse State University.  "Besse Cooper is one of those remarkable stories of East Tennessee State and East Tennessee as a region," remarked Robert Plummer, Executive Director for the East Tennessee State Universtiy Allumni Association. "She finished in 1916 and was one of those early folks that were part of an educational revolution that was at work in Tennessee." She wore her class ring 92 years, until it had to be removed for health reasons.

Nineteen-year-old Besse was first employed as a school teacher in Johnson  City, Tennessee. When she was told she could earn a better salary, she moved to Between, Georgia, in 1917, where she taught until 1929.

Besse married Luther Cooper in 1924, and the couple established a farm. There Besse and Luther raised their four children. After her husband died, Besse lived on the farm until 2001, when, at the age of 105, she decided to move into a nursing home. She spent her final years in Monroe, Georgia, where she passed away on December 4, 2012. At the time of her death, it was verified by the Guiness Book of World Records that Besse was the oldest living person in the world, and one of only eight people to have lived to the age of 116. Her longevity, she once remarked, was the result of "minding her own business" and avoiding junk food.

After her death, a bridge on New Hope Church Road in the town of Between was named Besse Brown Cooper Bridge in her honor.