Alesia Blanchard
Chalk it up to a very large blackboard and a nurturing kindergarten teacher. Alesia Blanchard always knew she would be a teacher.

Her grandmother, a tutor, kept a large blackboard in the garage at Blanchard's house, complete with chalk and erasers. Blanchard played with it when her grandmother wasn't there. Combine that with her positive kindergarten experience—she remembers her teacher as someone who made everything fun—and her career in education was a natural fit.

“It is an honor to touch children's lives and know that I am shaping the future,” said Blanchard, who is a first grade teacher at Mulberry Elementary School in Houma, Louisiana. “I love to experiment with things and try to provide those experiences to the students in my class and school.”

Blanchard has recently applied for and received three grants to benefit both her class and her school. She received a grant through Planet Orange and ING Direct to promote financial literacy in her classroom, and she also received two grants from Terrebone Foundation for Academic Excellence. Through one, written for her classroom, she received a CPS system. Each student has a keypad that they use to respond when Blanchard posts a question. The responses are anonymous.

“I can ask quick questions and see if they got it,” she said. “I put a PowerPoint up, they can click an answer, and we can talk about it. It helps with comprehension.”

She also received a $10,000 grant for the school, which was used to purchase a WeatherBug Tracking Station and give the school access to the WeatherBug website. The tracking station provides live, local weather information. Students can go online and check the weather data at stations across the U.S.

“With a K-6 school, there's a wealth of knowledge and things we can do,” Blanchard said.

She lists her National Board certification as an early childhood generalist as the accomplishment of which she is most proud because it made her realize she was an effective teacher.

Casey Brown
When Casey Brown taught in the primary grades, she had a student in her class who was a newcomer to the U.S. and knew only a little bit of English. That student had a dream: He wanted to learn to read in English.

Brown, now an assistant professor at Texas A&M University–Commerce, helped this student to learn to read before school, after lunch, and often during recess. They worked on sight words, decoding skills, and phonics. Eventually he achieved his goal.

“Though he was a student from 10 years ago, I will never forget his determination and effort,” Brown said. “When things are difficult, work is arduous, or commitments seem overwhelming, I think about the young man who gave up kickball and tag to sit in a classroom and solidify the foundation of his future. I am proud to have been a small part of it.”

Like many educators, Brown always knew she wanted to be a teacher. Instead of idolizing rock stars, models, or sports figures, she looked up to the teachers she encountered throughout her life. In her 11-year career in education, she has worked as a public school teacher, dean of instruction, principal, and superintendent before becoming a university faculty member.

“Each time I change positions, I believe my current job is my favorite,” she said. “My present job, however, allows me to interact with students, teachers, administrators, and university faculty members. It is rewarding to see how practice and theory intertwine and how each person can do his or her small part to make a difference in the lives of many.”

Brown joined PDK because she was drawn to its publications, its commitment to public schools, and its opportunities for service.

“To me, PDK is exemplified by the new teachers who attend our job workshops, exuding excitement about working with children,” she said. “PDK is the honored teachers who attend our banquets and share stories of the great things occurring in their classrooms.

PDK is the high school students who receive scholarships to pursue their dreams of becoming tomorrow's educators. To be a Kappan is to be a facilitator and a model of service to others.”

Trent Daniel
Trent Daniel is a chemistry teacher and science department chair at Hagerty High School in Oviedo, Florida. She is a fourth-generation educator who has spent 17 years in the classroom.

Stephenie Eriksson
When she teaches preservice and practicing teachers at Wilmington College in Ohio, Stephenie Eriksson knows that the impact of her lessons will reach far into the future.

Her Wilmington College mentor, Gloria Flaherty, shared this piece of advice with her: Remember that our clients are not only the students in our classrooms today, but 30 years of their students.

Eriksson, who also teaches 12th grade language arts at Blanchester Local Schools in Blanchester, Ohio , said she is most proud of the work she does to help teachers improve their practice.

“In the end, it is children who benefit from sound instruction delivered by reflective teachers,” she said.

An experienced teacher, Rick, enrolled in her summer graduate course on reading instruction. A teacher for 30 years, Rick was completing his master's degree in reading at the end of his career because he planned to retire and teach overseas. He came into the course with no experience in teaching reading—he was currently teaching a technology course for seventh and eighth grades. But as the course progressed, Rick grew into a reading teacher.

“By the end of the course he was planning lessons for his technology course, embedding reading strategy instruction, and discussing reading instruction like an expert,” Eriksson said.

Eriksson's teaching skills have also increased through her exposure to her peers' expertise. After hearing a presentation at her PDK chapter in which local educators included information about looping, she implemented this strategy in her 7th and 8th grade language arts classes. Eriksson is now teaching at the high school, but looping is in its fourth phase in the language arts department at Blanchester Middle School .

Lance Harrison
Lance Harrison, principal of Preston Junior High School in Preston, Idaho, could easily point to his multiple speaking engagements or the scholarships that he has received as his most notable accomplishments as an educator. However, he says that making a mark on the lives of his students is what matters most.

“Whether a classroom teacher affecting the lives of 25 students or a principal impacting the lives of 625 students, the child's individual success and happiness are my greatest accomplishments,” Harrison said. “It may be a first grade student smiling as the light comes on as he learns how to read or a scholarship recipient jumping for joy after receiving a prospective teacher or local university scholarship.”

He became a teacher to make a difference in children's lives, following in the footsteps of his parents and other teachers who shaped his life. He moved into administration to extend his influence.

“I now have a mindset that I'm not only a teacher, but also an educator,” Harrison said. “I decided to leave my classroom to become a principal, where I can work as a teacher of teachers in many classrooms.”

Prior to becoming the Preston Junior High School principal, Harrison served as the principal of the pre-K through grade 2 building at Pioneer Elementary School. He has also taught first, second, third, fifth, seventh, and eighth grades during his career.

He became a PDK member seven years ago at the invitation of a friend and administrator and enjoys the chance to network with other educators and the opportunity to take part in his chapter's service activities. These include awarding a scholarship for prospective educators and proctoring the Academic Olympiad for high school students at Utah State University.

Christy Keeler
Christy Keeler became an educator because of the example her mother set. Her mother worked in a 100,000-student school district as the administrator in charge of expulsions and suspensions. She helped the parents of expelled students obtain educational services and engage in the due process related to the expulsion.

“My mother is by no means ‘tough',” said Keeler, a part-time instructor, acting as the pedagogy scholar for the Clark County School District's Teaching American History Grant. “She is warm and kind. She explained to me once that what these parents really needed was for someone to listen to what they had to say, and they wanted someone to take the time to explain the process and options. Parents wanted this communication to occur in a non-judgmental environment.”

Keeler's mother received several thank you letters from parents she'd worked with, and it was these letters that changed Keeler's future.

“I had been interested in wealth and prestige,” she said. “Observing her made me realize that the true gift of life would be the joy of knowing that you made a difference in someone's life.”

As a PDK member, Keeler has had many opportunities to change lives. For example, she planned a program for her chapter titled The Making of an Award-Winning Teacher. The program highlighted teachers who have received national awards and the administrators who supported them. Following the panel discussion, the attendees met in small groups for discussion.

“The energy in the room during the meeting was incredible,” Keeler said. “Everyone was awed by the talents of the teachers on the panel. Instead of intimidating the audience, the presentation incited a motivation for all teachers to challenge themselves to be the best they can be.”

In addition to serving as adjunct assistant professor at the University of Nevada, this year Keeler is also a Grant Scholar for the Teaching American History Grant in the Clark County School District in Nevada. She is spending the year working on various research and grant projects while focusing on her service, research, and writing.

She enjoys her roles in education leadership because they give her the chance to expand her knowledge and share it with others.

“In the role of teacher educator, I further lead and mentor a new generation of teachers as they grow to love teaching and learning,” she said.

Anne Kirpes
When she's creating a standardized test, Anne Kirpes uses everything she's learned as a classroom teacher.

“I know that at the end of that test, there's a child,” said Kirpes, director of reading test development at Data Recognition Corporation in Maple Grove, Minnesota. “We need to make that assessment fair and reliable and acceptable for each child. Ultimately, they're the ones who are going to have a score attached to them for how they performed. We want them to be able to produce their best performance.”

Kirpes began her career as a classroom teacher and then earned a master's degree in education from Harvard University Graduate School of Education. She accepted a temporary position at a lab school so that she could teach and continue to pursue her interests of reading and literacy. When her position was eliminated due to declining enrollment, Kirpes searched in three states for another teaching position but could not get an interview. Economically, she understood that superintendents could hire two teachers with less experience for the same salary that they would have to have paid her, a candidate with a master's degree and eight years of experience in the classroom. Still, she needed a job, so she found a position as a curriculum expert at Riverside Publishing. That led to her current job at Data Recognition Corporation.

“Both jobs require me to stay current in teaching, reading and literacy, and best teaching practices so that I can best serve my company's clients, which are state departments of education,” she said.

Kirpes is currently working with states to design special education alternate assessment programs to ensure that those students are receiving the same access to the general education curriculum as other students.

“What I'm doing in the line of assessment is still important to education,” she said. “I'm not out there in the daily classroom, but I am still a teacher at heart.”

Scott McLeod
Scott McLeod believes that education administrators need to be up-to-speed on technology issues. To help meet that need, he founded and directs the Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE).

CASTLE (www.schooltechleadership.org.) is the nation's only center dedicated to the technology needs of school leaders. It provides free resources to administrators, including online presentations, podcasts, and print resources.

“People in charge of making things happen at schools are the least knowledgeable about the technology issues,” McLeod said. “We have to do something about that, and that's what CASTLE's all about.”

McLeod, who is also an associate professor in educational leadership and policy studies at Iowa State University, says that blogs are an important educational tool. Teachers can tap into blogs and RSS feeds to expand their own learning. Rather than searching the web, bookmarking websites, and re-visiting them, through RSS feeds they can receive the new information daily. Blogs can also have a powerful impact on students' work, especially their writing.

“A lot of teachers are finding that simply by having students put their writing in a different place, on a classroom blog instead of on paper that just goes to the teacher, has dramatic effects on kids and their writing skills and their motivation,” he said.

When family, community members, and outside experts can read students' work, students become more concerned with writing effectively and pay more attention to correct grammar and punctuation.

For an example of a blog post that's impacted the education world, McLeod cited the Karl Fisch Did You Know video. Fisch created the video for his local high school in August 2006. McLeod modified the video and posted it in January 2007. By February, it had gone viral. McLeod estimated that more than 10 million people had viewed it on the web, and countless others had seen it at conferences and seminars.

“It's a pretty neat phenomenon and one of the best examples of how a blog post can have a significant impact on how people think about technology and the schools and the forces that are swirling around schools as we try to move into the 21st century,” said McLeod, who has his own blog at www.dangerouslyirrelevant.org.

He also thinks that principals should blog and is offering free blogs to any principal that requests one (http://principalblogs.jot.com/WikiHome). At a minimum, a principal's blog can replace the printed newsletter and could be used as a tool to gather feedback from the community by allowing readers to post comments.

“This can be scary to principals, but it can also be quite empowering if they choose to take advantage of it,” he said.

James L. Moore III
James L. Moore III came from a blue-collar family in rural South Carolina. His family always emphasized how important it was for him to take full advantage of his education, but the idea of becoming a teacher didn't occur to him until high school.

Moore and a group of guys were complaining about some things at school when the superintendent stepped into the conversation.

“He put the fire under our rear ends and said, what are you going to do about it?” Moore said. “That kind of inspired me. I always did well in high school and enjoyed reading. It was a natural fit.”

Moore went to Delaware State University on a football scholarship and continued his education at Virginia Tech, where he earned his master's degree and doctorate.

Now, he's an associate professor of counselor education in the College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University. He particularly enjoys advising doctoral students.

“Just serving in that capacity is a meaningful experience,” he said. “It's almost like an apprenticeship model. They go forth and build on the things that I've been doing as a faculty member.”

For Moore, a career in education was a way to make a contribution to society while still nurturing his curiosity for learning and enthusiasm for teaching and mentoring. His many presentations and publications attest to his passion for teaching and learning.

Stacy Reeves
Stacy Reeves is changing the lives of children across the world.

Reeves, professor of education at William Carey University in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, has worked with orphans abroad, as well as helping children in her own state.

In Kenya, Reeves works at the Limuru Children's Center. Among her activities there, she spends time talking with the teachers—men and women who have the equivalent of an eighth-grade education—about best practices for teaching young children English.

“In Kenya, English is the language of opportunity,” Reeves said. “In learning to read, write, and speak English, the orphans have the chance to someday earn a good job.”

In the U.S., she works with an after-school literacy program that provides one-to-one tutoring. Following Hurricane Katrina, Reeves planned a seminar on helping the children who became homeless, having seen firsthand the devastation and loss. She also worked with a New Jersey reading group that sent books to the Mississippi Gulf Coast after the hurricane.

“Joining PDK and becoming a Kappan is an extension of my life's mission, which is to help children see the potential of their lives and see their futures as bright possibilities,” Reeves said.

Even though her students are now teachers and undergraduate students, her goal is the same. A student who nominated Reeves to be included in Who's Who Among America's Teachers wrote this in an e-mail to her: “You went the extra mile to teach me how to teach and to encourage me when I desperately needed it. Furthermore, you have provided me opportunities to advance myself professionally. If that alone wasn't enough, you've visited my class and offered great suggestions. I would NOT have been the teacher I am today without you!”

Although Reeves has published articles, made presentations, and received honors, she counts teaching a student to read as one of her top accomplishments.

“I am delighted to think that my tutors and I made a positive difference in his life,” she said. “To me, there is no better way to measure an accomplishment than to see who it has helped.”

Shelley Redinger
For Shelley Redinger, being a PDK member is about more than attending chapter meetings. It means that as part of her daily work she stays current on the latest research and accounts for the needs of her staff, the political and economic environments, and local and global trends in education.

“For me, being a Kappan is about embodying excellence, high standards, and moral and ethical behavior in terms of visionary leadership, relevant research, and dedicated service,” said Redinger, superintendent of the Oregon Trail School District in Sandy, Oregon. “I consider myself a visionary leader in that I continually attempt to find better ways to help students and move the system forward.”

Redinger believes that high-quality education is essential to the development and maintenance of local communities, as well as the global community. The ability to celebrate diversity—which she does through her deliberate hiring practices and by holding such multicultural events as concerts and cultural fairs—is also crucial to providing a high-quality education.

“Given these beliefs, the decision to serve my community and society as an educator was an easy one, one that is continually reinforced by the impact I see on the stakeholders with whom I interact,” she said.

When she was the president of the Kennewick PDK chapter in Washington, Redinger encouraged leadership, research, and service. She is proud that she has been able to nurture and mentor teachers and aspiring leaders.

“As a leader, nothing has brought me greater satisfaction than being able to motivate and ignite others' passion for education and raising student achievement,” Redinger said. “I have helped nurture teachers to see themselves as leaders and helped give them the confidence to go further in their careers than they may have otherwise envisioned.”

Lori Schneider
As she worked with classes of challenging children throughout her career, Lori Schneider formed her philosophy: All children have strengths and can become anything they want to be.

“I was determined to help them be successful,” she said. “Once I realized it was possible, no matter what their disability, it became a challenge. I soon wanted a school that resembled my classroom.”

Now, as principal of Kiker Elementary School in Austin, Texas, that's exactly what Schneider has.

“I am proud of the warm climate of love, inclusion, and acceptance for all that is fostered at my school,” she said. “You can feel it when you walk in the front door.”

That attitude begins with the principal. Schneider makes a point of knowing all of her students by name and understanding their strengths and weaknesses. Last year, Jake came to her office crying, after he received his results from the state assessments. He had failed.

“I told him he could master it and that we would practice every day,” Schneider said. She tutored Jake one hour a day for two months to help him improve his math skills. When she retested him, he passed—and he had earned the highest score on the re-test.

In addition to her regular duties, Schneider is taking a full load of doctoral classes, mentoring three first-year principals, and presenting at state and national conferences. She also planned and implemented a five-day New Principal Academy in her district and opened a new wing of her campus. Under her leadership, 100 percent of her third and fifth graders mastered the state reading assessment, and 100 percent of the fifth graders mastered the state math assessment.

“I have a passion to become the most effective educator I possibly can, to empower students to be the best they can be, while supporting others,” she said. “As an administrator I am allowed to make an even greater impact. I work to lead a school that is a positive and motivating environment for every child, teacher, and parent.”

Note: Students' names have been changed to protect their privacy.

James Sutfin
When James Sutfin was in third grade, he moved from a school with one section of third grade to a school with five sections.

“It was just overwhelmingly large,” he said. The school counselor intervened, meeting with him daily until he was comfortable in the school. She kept in touch throughout his school career.

“To this day, I tell people she saved my life,” said Sutfin, human resources director at Millard Public Schools in Omaha, Neb. “The reality is, she did. She went absolutely above and beyond anything you'd ever expect anyone to do.”

In his career, Sutfin has been a high school teacher, coach, assistant principal, and principal. He has received many honors, including being named as the NASSP Region II Principal of the Year.

“What I have come to realize is that there have been people who have invested in me, and I, in turn, also have invested in people,” he said. “Through that investment, we've been able to help make the world a better place for kids. We get to help kids. Is there anything better?”

He describes his PDK membership as an opportunity to develop relationships with others who are passionate about education.

“They're the kind of people you want to go into battle with,” he said. “They're the kind of people you want standing on your right and your left because they have your same values, the same ethics.”

Sutfin was nominated to be an Emerging Leader by Rick Kolowski, principal at Millard West High School. They have worked together for three years, and Kolowski described Sutfin as a “superb classroom teacher and department head.”

“Jim has an unlimited future, and he tempers all that with a tremendous sense of dedication and professionalism,” Kolowski said. “He puts himself totally into his tasks and is always aware of the needs of the principal in the building he is working with to solve the school's particular staffing need.”

And does Sutfin still keep in touch with his former counselor, the one who changed his life? When he went to college, he met a girl … who happened to be the counselor's daughter.

“I see her weekly,” he said of the counselor. “She's now the grandmother of my children.”