Middle school educator Becky Haenfler named SD’s 2026 State Teacher of the Year

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Becky Haenfler, a middle school English Language Arts teacher, has been named South Dakota’s 2026 State Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: Makenzie Huber, South Dakota Searchlight

Many outstanding teachers work with our nation’s young people in pubic schools. All of them are dedicated and hardworking, and occasionally some of them are singled out for special recognition. One of these is Becky Haenfler, a middle school teacher from South Dakota. She has been named her state’s 2026 Teacher of the Year.

Becky’s career as an educator spans 19 years. Currently, she teaches Language Arts to students in fifth through seventh grades at Avon Middle School in rural Avon, South Dakota. In fact, she works in the very same classroom she attended as a child. Her lessons are known to be engaging and meaningful, which helps her students make real-world connections. She also coaches basketball, volleyball, and track on her campus.

The honored educator is well-respected in her school district, and beyond. “Becky Haenfler has a wonderful reputation at Avon School District as being an engaging educator whose teaching style gets kids excited about reading,” declares South Dakota Secretary of Education Joseph Graves. “She is committed to making sure all of her students have the supports they need to read novels that challenge and inspire them, and that experience turns them into lifelong readers,” he continues.

Ever since she was a child, Becky has dreamed of becoming a teacher, she recently revealed. “I don’t remember wanting to do anything else,” she confesses. “Initially, it was having a good experience going to school in Avon. Having a great experience as a student made me want to come back to school to keep doing this,” she continued.

Becky earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and her Master’s degree as a Reading Literacy Specialist in 2024, both from the University of South Dakota.

To learn more about Becky Haenfler, click on this link to an interview with her published by the South Dakota State Department of Education.

Read a Chalkboard book over Spring Break

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When contemplating just the right inspirational book to read over Spring Break, Chalkboard Champions and Chalkboard Heroes. Each volume is packed with inspirational stories about remarkable educators in American history, and the historical implications of their pioneering work. Or purchase one or both for someone in the profession. These books make great gifts for individuals in the teaching profession and those aspiring to become teachers some day.

Among the captivating stories in Chalkboard Champions is the story of Charlotte Forten Grimke, an African American born into freedom who volunteered to teach emancipated slaves as the Civil War raged around her. Read the eyewitness account of the Wounded Knee massacre through the eyes of teacher Elaine Goodale Eastman, and educator Mary Tsukamoto, imprisoned in a WWII Japanese internment camp. Read about Mississippi Freedom Summer teacher Sandra Adickes who, together with her students, defied Jim Crow laws to integrate the Hattiesburg Public Library. Marvel at the pioneering work of Anne Sullivan Macy, the teacher of Helen Keller, the efforts of teacher Clara Comstock to find homes for thousands of Orphan Train riders, and the dedication of Jaime Escalante, the East LA educator who proved to that inner city Latino youths could successfully meet the demands of a rigorous curriculum.

In Chalkboard Heroes, read about dedicated educators who were heroes both inside and outside of the classroom, including WWI veteran Henry Alvin Cameron and Civil War veteran Francis Wayland Parker. Learn about teachers who were social reformers such as Dolores Huerta, Civil Rights activist Robert Parris Moses, suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt, and Native American rights advocate Zitkala-Sa, all of whom put themselves at risk to fight for improved conditions for disenfranchised citizens. Discover brave pioneers who took great risks to blaze a trail for others to follow such as Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher in space; Willa Brown Chappell, the aviatrix who taught Tuskegee airmen to fly; Etta Schureman Jones, the Alaskan teacher who was interned in a POW camp in Japan during WWII; and Olive Mann Isbell, who established the first English school in California while the Mexican american War raged around her.

All these remarkable stories and more can be enjoyed over Spring Break, or shared with someone you know this season. Enjoy!

Reading Specialist Jenna DiEleuterio named Delaware’s 2026 Teacher of the Year

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Jenna DiEleuterio, a middle school reading interventionist from Delaware, has been named her state’s 2026 Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: Wilmington University News

There are so many outstanding educators working with our nation’s young people who are deserving of recognition. Alas, not all of them receive the accolades they should receive. Some them, however, do earn honors they are due. One of them is Jenna DiEleuterio, a middle school reading interventionist from Delaware.

Jenna teaches at Talley Middle School in the Brandywine School District located in Wilmington. She works with students in grades six through eight there.

“As a reading specialist, I use literacy to give students voice and agency,” declares Jenna. “When they build a strong relationship with reading, they can access content, make informed decisions, and express themselves with confidence,” she continues. “I want every student to feel seen and heard, and to know that I care and our school community cares. Their voices matter,” she concludes.

In addition to her work with young people, Jenna serves as the facilitator and pioneer of the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) team at her school and throughout her community’s secondary schools. In this role, she brings educators together to analyze data, evaluate interventions, and ensure instruction is tailored to meet the needs of every student.

Jenna earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary and Special Education from Elizabethtown College. She earned her Master’s degree in Reading and her PhD in Teacher Leadership, both from Wilmington University. She is also a graduate of Leadership Delaware, an organization committed to cultivating strong and diverse leadership. Her career as an educator spans 15 years.

Her selection as Delaware’s 20276 Teacher of the Year is not the only recognition Jenna has earned. In 2024 she received Claymont Lion Club’s Humanitarian Award for her Peace Walk Initiative, which brings together students, families, educators, and community organizations to build stronger connections. That same year, she earned a Compostela certificate for completing El Camino de Santiago, a 500-mile pilgrimage across Spain.

During Women’s History Month, we recognize teacher and suffragist Bertha Boschulte

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Teacher, principal, and public health official Bertha Boschulte of the Virgin Islands was also a tireless women’s suffragist. Photo Credit: Public Domain

Many talented educators devote their considerable energy to social issues. One of these was Bertha Boschulte, a teacher, principal, and public health worker from the Virgin Islands who dedicated herself to women’s suffrage in her home territory.

Bertha was born on March 30, 1906, in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. After her graduation from Charlotte Amalie Junior/Senior High School, she taught for one year. Then she moved to the mainland, where she settled in the state of Virginia and enrolled in the Hampton Institute. There she earned her Bachelor’s degree, with distinction, in English and Mathematics in 1929.

Following her graduation from college, Bertha returned to the Virgin Islands, where she accepted a teaching position at her alma mater, Charlotte Amalie High School. During the next few years, while teaching and serving as the secretary of the St. Thomas Teachers Association, Bertha became a champion of the women’s suffrage movement. She was one of numerous women teachers who attempted to register to vote and had been denied. The teachers’ union filed a lawsuit, and earned a ruling in their favor.

By 1938, Bertha had been promoted to be principal of the Charlotte Amalie school, but after a few years, she decided to return to the United States, where she enrolled at Columbia University’s Teachers College. There she earned her Master’s degree in Educational Administration in 1945. After securing her teaching credential in 1946, Bertha accepted a teaching position at New York’s PS 81.

While in New York, the forward-thinking educator became involved with the International Assembly of Women, a conference organized by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to advance the goals of political equality for women and support the establishment of the United Nations. In 1947, Bertha returned to the Virgin Islands, where she worked with colleagues to establish a teachers’ institute to offer training to educators who wanted to improve their instructional practices.

Bertha launched a new chapter of her life in 1950 when she relocated to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to pursue a Master’s degree in Public Health. The following year, her goal achieved, she returned to the Virgin Islands, where she was appointed the Director of the Statistical Service for the territory’s Health Department. She served in that department until 1963. In 1964, this amazing former teacher was elected to the Legislature of the Virgin Islands, where she served one two-year term as a Senator. In 1969, Bertha was appointed to serve on the Commission on the Status of Women, and in 1970, she was elected to the Board of the Territorial Department of Education, where she was served as the Chairperson.

For her tireless work as an educator, public health official, and women’s suffragist, Bertha was named Woman of the Year by the Federation of Business and Professional Women in 1965. In 1981, the Bertha C. Boschulte Middle School in Bovoni was named in her honor. This Chalkboard Hero passed away on August 18, 2004. She was 98 years old.