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.

Former teacher Maxine Hong Kingston is a well-known author

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Former high school teacher Maxine Hong Kingston is well-known today as a talented author. Photo Credit: Library of America

Many people are familiar with the famous author Maxine Hong Kingston. She wrote The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, a critically-acclaimed autobiographical account. In the book, Maxine details the conflicting cultural messages she received as the daughter of Chinese immigrants growing up in America in the 1950s. She also wrote China Men, Tripmaster Monkey, The Fifth Book of Peace, and Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace. But did you know that this talented writer is also a teacher?

Maxine was born on October 27, 1940, in Stockton, California. Her parents were first-generation Chinese immigrants. In order to immigrate to the United States, her father had to give up a career as a professional scholar and teacher in his home village of Sun Woi, near Canton. Maxine was the third of the couple’s eight children, and the eldest of the six children born to them in the United States.

Maxine earned her Bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1962, and then obtained her teaching credential. She taught high school in the city of Hayward for a year, and then moved to Hawaii where she taught in various positions. From 1970 to 1977 she taught at Mid-Pacific Institute, a private boarding school. In 1990, she was invited to join the faculty of her alma mater, UC Berkeley, as a senior lecturer in the English department.

This remarkable educator has earned many awards. She garnered the Writers Award from the national Endowment for the Arts in 1980 and again in 1982. She was honored by President Bill Clinton with a National Humanities Medal in 1997. She has also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Asian American Literary Awards (2006), and a Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters from the National Book Foundation (2008). In 2013 this former English teacher was honored by President Barack Obama with a National Medal of Arts award.

WV teacher Emily Crislip Castelli garners prestigious honor

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Emily Crislip Castelli, a teacher at Salem Elementary School in Salem, West Virginia, has been named to the 2024 class of Extraordinary Educators by Curriculum Associates.  Photo Credit: Curriculum Associates

Curriculum Associates has named Emily Crislip Castelli of West Virginia to its 2024 class of Extraordinary Educators. The program annually celebrates and connects exemplary teachers in Grades K–8 from around the country. Emily is one of 32 educators from 19 states and the District of Columbia who were selected for the honor.

Emily was selected for the honor to recognize her efforts to promote growth and achievement through formal assessments, pioneering innovative engagement tactics, serving as a steward for high expectations and student achievement, and creating equitable environments for her students. Emily teaches second grade at Salem Elementary School in Salem. She has worked at the school, part of the Harrison County School District, for the past six years.

“To be an effective educator, data-driven instruction is paramount to making good decisions regarding education and intervention in the classroom,” declares Emily. “I use i-Ready data to plan small group intervention lessons to assist students with essential skills they may need extra support to become proficient. I also do monthly growth monitoring, which allows me to see if I need to change my approach in class,” she continues.

This is the fifth year of the Extraordinary Educators program. To learn more about Curriculum Associates and the 2024 Extraordinary Educators, visit this website: CurriculumAssociates.com/Extraordinary-Educators.

NV educator Laura Jeanne Penrod named her state’s 2024 Teacher of the Year

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Congratulations to Nevada educator Laura Jeanne Penrod, who has been named her state’s 2024 Teacher of the Year. Photo Credit: Laura Jeanne Penrod

Congratulations to educator Laura Jeanne Penrod of Clark County, Nevada! She has been named her state’s 2024 Teacher of the Year.

Laura teaches dual-credit English courses to seniors at Southwest Career and Technical Academy, a magnet high school in her Las Vegas school. She has worked at the school since it opened in 2009. She inaugurated her first job in the profession at Eldorado High School in East Las Vegas in 2006. In all, her career as an educator spans 18 years.

In her classroom, this outstanding educator emphasizes project-based learning, social-emotional learning, and leadership skills. She is passionate about empowering her students in projects that serve the community. For example, she organized her students to advocate in Nevada’s 82nd Legislative Session with Assemblyman Duy Nguyen and Assemblywoman Erica Mosca to pass Assembly Bill 274, which addressed the topic of financial literacy, and Assembly Bill 24, which addressed the topic of access to college and career readiness programs.

Her advocacy for the profession extends beyond her school. Laura serves as an ambassador for the Nevada Future of Learning Network; a Teacher Cabinet Member of the national Teach Plus CEO; and a facilitator for the Teach Plus National Teacher of Color Network. She is also a contributing columnist for the Nevada Independent, where she publishes articles about educational topics.

Education runs in Laura’s blood. Her mother, Miriam Smyth, was a longtime Spanish teacher in the Clark County School District. “Seeing her teach was magical, and I want to be magical like her,” Laura remembers. “I want to walk out of my job every day knowing that this is how I’m changing the world in positive ways, and I want to help kids,” she declares.

Laura earned her Bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies from California State University, Bakersfield, in 2005. She earned her Master’s degree in Special Education at the University of Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2007.

Read more about Laura Jeanne Penrod at her website.

NASA celebrates Educator Astronauts during annual Space Week observance

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Educator Astronauts Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger (left), Ricard Arnold (center), and Joseph Acaba (right). Photo credit: NASA

The recent solar eclipse has renewed an interest in all things that occur in space. In addition, NASA has just concluded this year’s annual celebration of Space Week, which took place from April 6—13, 2024. During this celebration, teachers throughout the country explore a variety of lesson plans and hands-on experiments that teach STEM concepts in the classroom. Through these educational experiences, teacher provide their students with authentic content, hands-on inquiry-based experiences, and partner-driven collaborations. All of these events remind me of our nation’s Educator Astronaut program.

The Educator Astronaut Project is a program sponsored by NASA to educate America’s students about space exploration. Inaugurated in the 1990s, the program advances the objectives established in the original Teacher in Space Program from the 1980s. One of these objectives was to elevate teaching as a profession, and another was to inspire students to pursue careers in science, engineering, technology, and math (STEM). Another of the primary goals of the project is to give educators the skills and knowledge to use NASA-related content in their classrooms.

Educator astronauts are teachers, but they are also fully trained astronauts who fly aboard spacecraft as full-fledged crew members. They have duties and responsibilities that are the same as any other astronaut. In addition, they prepare lessons and demonstrations about space exploration for students in America’s classrooms.

To date, there have been four teachers who have been trained as educator astronauts. These teachers are Barbara Morgan of Montana; educator Joseph Acaba of Florida; Richard Arnold of Maryland; and Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger of Washington. New Hampshire educator Christa McAuliffe, the first participant in the Teacher in Space program, was classified as a civilian member of the crew. Tragically, she perished along with six astronauts in the space shuttle Challengerdisaster in 1986.

To read more about teachers in space, click on this link to Citizens in Space.org. To read more about the Educator Astronaut Project, click on this link to Revolvy.