Author Archives: Terry Lee Marzell

About Terry Lee Marzell

Terry Lee Marzell holds a bachelor's degree in English from Cal State Fullerton and a master's degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Cal State San Bernardino. She also holds a certificate for Interior Design Level 1 from Mt. San Antonio College. She has been an educator in the Corona Norco Unified School District for more than 30 years.

NV teacher Yamilet Lopez garners prestigious 2024 Milken Educator Award

Posted on by

Nevada teacher Yamilet Lopez has garnered a prestigious 2024 Milken Educator Award. Photo Credit: Milken

Teachers all over the country are getting excited to learn that the winners of the prestigious 2024 Milken Awards are being announced. Today, I am excited to share the news that one of the recipients is Yamilet Lopez, an elementary school teacher from Nevada.

Teacher Magazine has described the Milken Educator Awards as the “Oscars of Teaching.” In addition to a $25,000 cash prize and public recognition, the honor includes membership in the National Milken Educator Network, a group of more than 3,000 exemplary teachers, principals, and specialists from all over the country who work together to strengthen best practices in education. To learn more, click on Milken Educator Awards.

Yamilet teaches kindergartners at Alice Maxwell School in Reno. There she develops hands-on, enriching instruction that not only prepares her students for the transition to first grade, but also equips them with language and vocabulary skills that surpass typical kindergarten standards. And the progress her students make is measurable. For example, by the end of the school year, her young students have mastered the entire alphabet, along with each letter’s sound, and they demonstrate the ability to compose short paragraphs. Always seeking new, exciting instructional strategies, Yamilet has developed a method called “spicy writing” to teach students how to add details to their narrative writing.

Yamilet also contributes to professional development. She has participated in the Department Chair Cohort through the Regional Professional Development Program (RPDP), where she plays a pivotal role in creating resources and webinars for teachers and promotes positive teacher and parent relationships within the district. Additionally, her involvement as a panelist for the school’s kindergarten town hall shows her dedication to connecting families to the program and ensuring sustained educational success for each child.

Yamilet earned a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from the University of Nevada, Reno, in 2012. She says she will use her prize money to finance a Master’s degree.

 

 

Montana educator Tana Luptak earns 2024 Outstanding Contributions Award

Posted on by

Secondary level World Languages teacher Tana Luptak of Shepherd, Montana, has garnered a 2024 Outstanding Contributions Award from the Montana Association of Language Teachers (MALT). Photo Credit: Montana Association of Language Teachers

There are many fine educators who earn recognition for their tireless work in the classroom. One of these is Tana Luptak, a secondary level World Languages teacher from Montana. She has garnered a 2024 Outstanding Contributions Award from the Montana Association of Language Teachers (MALT).

Tana currently teaches Spanish at Shepherd Middle School and Shepherd High School, both located in Shepherd, Montana. She has been employed there for seven years. Tana has a reputation for fostering an exciting learning environment characterized by community, collaboration, and culture.

In addition to her work in the classroom, Tana has served for six years on the MALT Board, including terms as Vice President and President. During her tenure, she drove significant organizational changes and improvements. In fact, she is largely responsible for expanding the Spanish-language program in Shepherd schools, even introducing international travel experiences for students.

Tana earned her Bachelor’s degree in Spanish with a Teaching Option from Montana State University, Billings, in May, 2013. While in college, Tana completed a study abroad program in Spain for a semester. She found that experience so enriching that, since she became a teacher, she has led two trips abroad with students: One to Spain in 2017, and the other to Costa Rica in 2018.
​
In 2018, Tana earned her Master’s degree in Education and World Language Instruction from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. She even presented her Master’s thesis, “Montana World Language Teachers’ Beliefs and Perspectives on Effective World Language Teaching Practices,” at a conference organized by the Wisconsin Association For Language Teachers and the Confederation in Oregon Foreign Language Teaching (WAFLT-COFLT) in Portland, Oregon. Her thesis, exploring Montana teachers’ beliefs in comparison to national recommendations, showcased her commitment to advancing language education.

 

CA English teacher Casey Cuny named his state’s 2024 Teacher of the Year

Posted on by

California English teacher Casey Cuny has been named his state’s 2024 Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: The Signal of Santa Clarita Valley

There are many outstanding teachers in our nation’s schools who have earned recognition for their work with young people. One of these is Casey Cuny, a high school English teacher from California. He has been named his state’s 2024 Teacher of the Year.

Casey teaches Honors English to sophomores and Mythology and Folklore to seniors at Valencia High School in Santa Clarita, located about 30 miles north of Los Angeles. In a career that spans more than two decades, he has spent the last 18 of them working in the Hart District. On his campus, Casey also serves as English Department Chair and as the school’s instructional coach. He also works as an Adjunct Professor at National University, a San Diego-based four-year college that offers both in-person and online classes in teacher credentialing. He has done this work for 17 years.

In his classroom, Casey places focus on creating an inclusive environment for his students, emphasizes the power of growth mindset, and champions their growth as individuals. He uses Socratic seminars, which are scaffolded critical thinking activities that foster dialogue and collaboration among students. In fact, he has published an article on this topic in Educational Leadership, a prestigious journal in the field of education.

Casey has earned other accolades in addition to being named California’s Teacher of the Year. Last year, he was named Valencia High School Teacher of the Year, he was recognized by the Hart Governing Board as the District Teacher of the Year, and he was honored as one of 16 Los Angeles County Teachers of the Year.

To achieve his current success, Casey has had to overcome substantial obstacles. He grew up in Vail, Colorado, where he enjoyed a normal childhood, until, at the age of 13, he was diagnosed with a rare type of bone cancer. He had to undergo eight surgeries during that year, followed by chemotherapy for more than a year.  In remembering that period of his life, Casey recalls that his teachers were a great source of hope.  In fact, they inspired him to dedicate his life to becoming a teacher so that he could be an inspiration to other young people.

Casey earned his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Arizona in 1998, and his Master’s degree in Education from the University of Phoenix in 2005. 

To read more about Casey Cuny, click on this link to an article about him published in The Signal.

RI STEM teacher Elizabeth “Liz” Patterson wins prestigious award

Posted on by

Rhode Island STEM teacher Elizabeth “Liz” Patterson has been named the 2023 Carol Giuriceo Computer Science Teacher of the Year. Photo Credit: Computer Science 4 Rhode Island

I am always eager to share the story of an exceptional educator who is working in one of our nation’s public schools. Today, I shine the spotlight on Elizabeth Patterson, a high school STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) teacher from Portsmouth, Rhode Island. She was named the 2023 Dr. Carol Giurica Computer Science Teacher of the Year.

The annual award traces it’s origin back to 2021, when the Rhode Island Computer Science (CS) Teacher of the Year Award was established in honor of educator Dr. Carol Giuriceo, a frontrunner and champion of Computer Science instruction throughout the state of Rhode Island. Carol was passionate about including a variety of perspectives in all areas of her work. The award recognizes teachers who embody and advance the impact of Carol’s work through collaboration, leadership, and innovation. Elizabeth Patterson, who was actually a participant in the team that worked closely with Carol to develop the Rhode Island State Computer Science standards, is certainly a worthy candidate for the award. Liz has a history of advocating vociferously for Computer Science in her school and district, which has led to increased opportunities for all Portsmouth students to engage in and further pursue computer science.

Elizabeth, who prefers to be called “Liz”, teaches STEM courses at Portsmouth High School. She teaches Math, Computer Science, and Advanced Placement Computer Science. In her courses, Liz includes lessons on Java, video game development, and computer science principles. In 2014, she advised a team of 10 students from her school as they participated in a computer competition run by the US Air Force to help combat cyberterrorism. Acting as a team, the students worked to discover such threats as malware, password violations, and unnecessary services as part of the CyberPatriot Defense Program.

To learn more about Elizabeth Patterson or Dr. Carol Giurica, click here.

Dr. Beverly Prosser: Prominent teacher and psychologist

Posted on by

Dr. Inez Beverly Prosser was a prominent public school teacher, university professor, and psychologist. Photo Cedit: Find a Grave

It’s Women’s History Month, and in honor of the many outstanding educators who have made significant contributions to our nation’s history, we shine a spotlight today on Inez Beverly Prosser, a prominent African American pubic school teacher, university professor, and psychologist.

Even as a child, Inez was passionate about education. When her parents could only afford to send one of their children to college, she persuaded her to choose her to be the one. The choice was a wise one. After she completed her degree, Inez was able to put five of her siblings through school.

After earning her degree at Prairie View A&M University, a historically Black college northwest of Houston, Inez inaugurated her career as a teacher in Austin, Texas. She taught first in a Black elementary school, and then at a high school. Her career as a public school teacher spanned the years of 1913 through 1926, when Inez graduated with her Bachelor’s degree from Samuel Huston College in Austin. In 1933, she earned her Master’s degree in Psychology from the University of Colorado. She went on to earn her PhD in Psychology from the University of Cincinnati. Her research was one of several studies conducted in the 1920s and 30s about how segregated schools under the “separate but equal” doctrine of Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896 affected students.

Inez was among the first group of African American women who ea and she was the first to earn a Doctorate in Psychology. Her presence on the cover of The Crisis in August 1933 celebrated the importance of her achievement.

In September, 1934, on her way to Mississippi after visiting family in Texas, she was killed in a car accident in Louisianna. She was just 38 years old.