Men's Stories

Not a job, A passion

by Roger Neugebauer in Redmond, WA – USA [MenTeach: Roger is co-publisher of the magazine Child Care Information Exchange and serves on the World Forum Foundation that is sponsoring the Men in Early Childhood Education Working Forum.] How did you get started in this profession? When I was little kid back in Fargo, North Dakota, my mother convinced […]

From trucking to teaching

by Wayne Erb – Education Gazette in New Zealand Former truck driver Adam Buckingham reckons he has a few life skills that he can pass on to young children. The Auckland man switched careers following a workplace accident and says that, after recuperating, he wanted to find a way to give more back to his […]

Mr. Mike’s Legacy

by Jane Kokan, National Post in Nahrin, Afghanistan The school that Mike Frastacky built has seven sturdy buildings with galvanized steel roofs and precise orange framing, surrounded by the barren mountains of northern Afghanistan’s Baghlan province. The children laughing in the playground walk here each morning from 10 villages. Enrolment is almost 700, depending on […]

Student teacher in Germany

by Chad Fey – The Kansan.com in Newton, KS, USA The trip home from his spring semester was a long one for Newton’s Jeff Arellano, who graduated from Wichita State University this spring. His trip involved flying across the Atlantic Ocean after student teaching in Germany. “I learned a lot,” Arellano said. “It opened my […]

First year teacher’s success

by Lisa Liechner in Christiansburg, Virginia, USA Last August, Dan began his first year teaching. When he came home the first day, he was pretty much wiped out and convinced that he wasn’t cut out to be a teacher and should quit … soon. Since Dan’s not one to quit easily, it was a real shock […]

“Mr. B” teaches second-grade

by Brittany Boyd in Northern Virginia, USA At Little River Elementary School in South Riding, second-grade teacher Timothy Bjorseth, affectionately known as “Mr. B,” is one of only six male teachers among a faculty of 45. A 10-year instructor in education, Bjorseth said he was even more of a minority at the first elementary school […]

Ralph Ramstad, a teacher who broke barrier

by Ben Cohen, Star Tribune in Minneapolis, MN, USA Ralph Ramstad began teaching in the Minneapolis School District around 1950, when few elementary school teachers were male. Ramstad, a decorated World War II infantryman who spent most of his career teaching fifth- through eighth-graders at Burroughs Elementary, died of natural causes on Monday in Minneapolis. […]

Working with Children – Intertwined with Faith

by Ron Blatz in Manitoba, Canada My personal story is unavoidably intertwined with my being a part of a faith community. As an Evangelical Christian much of life is seen as the outworking of a God who has a specific purpose for each of us. Our job is to observe the gifts and passions he […]

Arnold Blume: Substitute Teacher Tells History First Hand

by Paul Vitello – New York Times in Breakneck, NY USA The substitute teacher in Room 216 was pacing, searching for the right touchstone to help an eighth-grade social studies class in this mostly white, affluent community comprehend the sting of racial discrimination. “O.K., have any of you ever seen the TV show ‘All in […]

Looking up to a male teacher

by Bart Tittle – Pearson Teacher Fellowship – Jumpstart Corps in Kansas – United States Bart Tittle served 300 hours as a Jumpstart Corps member while he was a student at the University of Missouri Kanses City. After graduating in 2005, Bart joined the Pearson Teacher Fellowship. Like many of my friends, growing up I […]