Book excerpt: A collection of inspiring and informative narratives, Chalkboard Heroes: Twelve Courageous Teachers and Their Deeds of Valor introduces us to real American heroes. Author and educator Terry Lee Marzell shines a spotlight on heroic teachers in American history who were both exemplars of teaching and role models of society. We meet the teachers who protected our country like Henry Alvin Cameron, who fought in World War I, and Francis Wayland Parker, a Civil War veteran. We learn about the social reformers who put themselves at risk to fight for improved conditions and better lives for disenfranchised citizens like Dolores Huerta, the champion of migrant farm workers; Robert Parris Moses, the civil rights activist; Prudence Crandall, who defied prevailing convention to open a school for African American girls; Carrie Chapman Catt, the suffragist; and Zitkala-Sa, who campaigned for the constitutional rights of Native Americans. We get to know the 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, who was interned for four years 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. Lastly, we discover teachers like Dave Sanders of Columbine High School who put their own lives at risk to protect the students whose safety was entrusted to their care. Chalkboard Heroes combines superb storytelling and scholarship in this engaging, inspirational work that is sure to inspire as well as educate.