People
On Top of the World

Photo by Barbara Wentworth

Wisconsin teacher climbs Mt. Everest and sets students' sights on fitness.

Ever wanted to fulfill a dream that was as big as a mountain? The students at Magee Elementary School have done just that, through teacher Barbara Wentworth's physical education program. Last November, Wentworth climbed Mt. Everest, in a three-week expedition, and her students "climbed" just as high.

For the past nine years, Wentworth has engaged her students in an annual fitness destination goal. Last year they "climbed" Mt. Everest by logging fitness miles they accumulated outside the classroom and converting them into feet.

"Having a healthy, active lifestyle is what it's all about," says Wentworth.

Wentworth's Everest lesson was actually about more than fitness. In an interdisciplinary approach to learning, the students also met David Breashears, the director of the IMAX movie "Everest, Mountain Without Mercy," and learned about Himalayan art and culture, temperature, and nutrition.

The students also followed Wentworth as she climbed miles above sea level and reported back to the school through digital pictures and recorded audio broadcasts that were uploaded to a Web site.

"The project was the greatest experience of my life, both professionally and personally," she says.

For more information on Wentworth's Everest program, visit www.kmsd.edu/everest.htm.

Lesson in Learning

Photo by Ohio Education Association

For Linda Hallenbeck, Ohio's first "teacher-in-residence," the journey from her fifth-grade classroom at East Woods Elementary School to an office in downtown Columbus's Riffe Center has been a challenging and delightful one.

A National Board Certified teacher and winner of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching of Mathematics, Hallenbeck's role is to bring an educator's perspective and sensibilities on education issues to Governor Bob Taft.

During her nine-month tenure, Hallenbeck will be responsible for chairing the governor's Teacher Advisory Committee, a voluntary 24-member board, and conducting Teacher Town Meetings throughout the state to help teachers improve their work and enhance their professional development opportunities.

Hallenbeck will also continue working on the development of OhioReads, a volunteer-based reading program created to improve the reading skills of Ohio children before fourth grade.

For Hallenbeck, the best part of teaching is the children.

"They have such wonderful minds," she says. "They have such a capacity to explore and to shape ideas."

Hallenbeck grew up one of 13 children on a farm in a small Iowa town. When it came time for college, Hallenbeck had the encouragement of her family and a close teacher.

"My mission," she adds, "is to do what's best for all Ohio teachers because when you do, you do what's best for all Ohio students."

Starting Again at 65

Photo by Hawaii State Teachers Association

For 39 years, Hawaii NEA member Ku'ulei Ihara has taught in a very different classroom, the Bishop Museum in Honolulu. She's the staffer who arranges for students and teachers to tour the museum and helps plan visits so they fit with teachers' learning objectives.

The museum houses an extensive collection representing Hawaii's natural and cultural history.

"One thing I've learned being here all these years," explains Ihara, "is to be adaptable and embrace change."

Ihara demonstrated her adaptability when she began training at age 65 to become a crew member for the Polynesian Voyaging Society. Society members take extensive trips in native Hawaiian canoes. For Ihara, joining the society meant working out daily, including using weights. Ihara's first trip was from Seattle to Vancouver and then down to San Diego.

Having lived up to that challenge, Ihara still enjoys helping kids understand the native Hawaiian culture.

"The key is being flexible and calm," explains Ihara, "so the kids pick up on that and understand they're in a museum."

Custodian Connects With Kids

"Ready... aim...fire!" is the shout you'll hear during a reenactment on the battlefield at the Fort at Number Four in Charlestown, New Hampshire. That's where you'll find military veteran Wayne Mitchell, the fort's lead historical interpreter and founder of the Upper Valley Living History Society.

A custodian at Woodsville High School, Mitchell goes the extra mile to take his love of history off the battlefield and into the classrooms. Dressed in authentic clothing, with ornately original equip- ment, Mitchell portrays soldiers from the Revolutionary, Civil, and French and Indian Wars. Mitchell also explains such topics as how the fort got its name.

"Number Four was the name of an agricultural settlement in colonial times," he notes. "The settlements were numbered by the Colony of Massachusetts according to their distance from Ft. Dummer."

Mitchell takes pride in encouraging his own children to learn about their heritage. His kids and other members of his extended family participate with him in reenactments.

"We don't just do military events," he says. "We do demonstrations of everyday life. We show how blacksmiths made tools and how farmers harvested crops. We demonstrate how women spun wool and cooked."

Mitchell also helps educators by putting them in touch with other historical reenactment groups and other educational resources.

"It's important for children to be able to see and touch history," he says.

Students Book Club RIF

Photo by John Miller

At Club RIF, you won't find palm trees or tropical drinks with pink umbrellas--just 1,800 high schoolers excited about reading and a teacher with the energy and enthusiasm to match.

NEA member Pat Heck, a corrective reading teacher at Red Mountain High School in Mesa, Arizona, is one of Reading Is Fundamental's 1999 Volunteers of the Year. In 1988, Heck launched a RIF program that involves students of all reading abilities in fun, book-based activities.

"Several of my corrective readers speak very limited English, a few are visually impaired, and some read below the fourth-grade level," says Heck. "No matter what their reading level is, they work on Club RIF assemblies, and we train them to become reading buddies for young children."

Club members sponsor read-a-thons, all-school book distributions, and an annual carnival. They're one-on-one reading buddies to 150 second graders at nearby Salk Elementary School. They also tutor over 1,300 children each week and distribute books at two Native American communities, a homeless shelter, and to children of migrant workers.

"When these students are teaching children how important reading is, they sell themselves on the idea," says Heck. "They start to read; they finish a book. On standardized tests, I've seen them gain two or three years in one semester."

Nearly two-thirds of Red Mountain's 2,5000 students participate in Club RIF's various activities. "We started out with five kids" says Heck, "and now it's taken on a life of its own. I teach my kids the importance of reading, and they acquire confidence, leadership skills, the importance of teamwork, and pride in getting a job done."