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.

Ohio kindergarten teacher and US Coast Guard veteran Audrey Keagy

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Ohio kindergarten teacher Audrey Keagy served in the US Coast Guard during World War II. Photo credit: WikiTree.

There are many American veterans who have chosen to serve in the classroom after they have served their country in the military. One of these is Audrey Keagy, a kindergarten teacher from Ohio who also served in the United States Coast Guard.

Audrey was born on August 17, 1923, in Jefferson County, Ohio. When she was a child, her family moved frequently because her father worked for the New York Central Railroad.

After she graduated from high school in Ohio in 1941, Audrey accepted a job as an office worker at the Timken Roller Bearing Company in Canton. When World War II erupted, Audrey supported the war effort by working at the Republic Steel company, a factory that assembled airplanes. In October, 1944, she joined the SPARs, the Women’s Reserve of the US Coast Guard. The military sent her to Toledo, where she worked for the duration of the war as a switchboard operator.

Once the war was ended and her service was over, Audrey returned to Canton. There she used her GI Bill benefits to enroll at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, where she earned the degrees necessary to become a kindergarten teacher. She was the first person in her family to attend college. “My mother was absolutely thrilled that I was attending college,” Audrey once remembered.

Audrey inaugurated her career as an educator when she accepted a position as a kindergarten teacher in Canton. Eventually she transferred to the public school system in Williamsburg, Ohio. She taught there for 26 years. After her retirement, she continued to serve her community as a literacy tutor at her local library.

Sadly, this amazing Chalkboard Hero passed away on May 18, 2012. To learn more about Audrey, click on this link to WikiTree.

 

Long-time Alaska educator Joe Montgomery was also a veteran and legislator

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Long-time educator Joe Montgomery of Anchorage, Alaska, also served his country in WWII and two terms in the state House of Representatives. Photo credit: Pubic Domain

Many excellent educators prove themselves successful in the political arena. Joe Montgomery of Anchorage, Alaska, was a fine example of this. This teacher served his community as a member of his state’s House of Representatives.

Joe was born on Jan. 28, 1918 in Floydada, Texas. As a young man, he  had already survived the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. He’d dug sweet potatoes and peanuts, worked in the cotton and hay fields, milked cows, rode horses, and completed daily chores on the old farm.

After his graduation from Floydada High School in 1936, Joe earned his degree at Colorado State University in 1941. After his graduation, he traveled to San Francisco, where he took a job loading freight, earning the princely sum of $1.35 per hour. Then he decided to venture north to Alaska.

Once he arrived in Anchorage, Joe answered a newspaper advertisement asking for qualified individuals to apply for a teaching position. With winter coming on, he secured room and board for $60.00 a month at Mrs. Erickson’s boarding house. There he met his future wife, Ebba. Later, two daughters were born to the couple.

When World War II broke out in Dec., 1941, with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Joe enlisted in the Army Air Force and was selected for flight training. Over the four years of his military career, he flew a total of 35 missions as a B-17 pilot. He was discharged as a First Lieutenant in 1945. Once he returned from the war, Joe operated a successful businessman. For three years he owned a Chrysler Auto Agency, and then he returned to the classroom.

After a number of years in the classroom, Joe also served as a counselor, a principal, and finally as the Superintendent of Anchorage Public Schools, a position he held for seven years. He retired from the teaching profession in 1977, after serving a total of 32 years as an educator.

In 1980, Jose was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives on the Republican ticket. He served there from 1980 to 1984. He was also a member of the Alaska State Board of Education, the Alaska Parole board, the Beverage Control Board, the Pioneers of Alaska, and other civic organizations.

Joe passed away from natural causes on Oct. 5, 2013, in Anchorage. He was 95 years old.

 

CA music educator Albert Lopez was also a US veteran

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California music educator Albert Lopez was also a US veteran. Photo credit: Legacy.com

Many fine educators also serve their country in the military. One of these was Albert Lopez, a music educator from California who devoted many years to students as a junior high school and high school band director.

Al was born on Nov. 26, 1934, in Delano, California. At a young age, he decided to take piano lessons. Following his graduation from Delano High School in 1953, Al served his country for four years in the United States Navy. He was stationed at Point Magu where he specialized in air traffic control.

After leaving the military, Al took a full-time job at the US Post Office, and enrolled in Drake University. There he earned a Master’s degree in Music Education in 1962. He relocated to Iowa and inaugurated his career as a music educator, teaching high school and junior high school bands, while also directing and choreographing the marching band at the high school hall-time football games. In 1965, he returned to California, and continued his career as a teacher at Upland Junior High School, where he taught band and mathematics.

In 1974, Al also launched a career as a real estate agent, and in the early 1980s he supllemented his work in the teaching profession to establish his business as a tax preparer. He became a fiduciary, and expanded his business to provide retirement and investment consulting. He was engaged in this work for the next 44 years. In 2018, Al retired from his business.

This accomplished Chalkboard Champion realized a number of personal projects. He became a private pilot, enjoyed road trips on his motorcycle, designed and built landscape masonry, mastered snow skiing and river rafting, and traveling extensively.

Sadly, Albert Lopez retired from his business and other activities because he developed dementia in his later years. He passed away on Sept. 6, 2023, in Alta Loma, California.

Teacher and WWII Seminole Indian Code Talker Edmond Harjho

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Edmond Harjho

The amazing story of teacher and WWII Seminole Indian Code Talker Edmond Harjho. Phot0 credit: Equal Voice for Families

I love to share stories about hardworking teachers who have also served our country in the military. One of these stories is about the amazing Edmond Andrew Harjho, an elementary school teacher who served as a Seminole Code Talker during World War II.

Edmond was born in Maud, Seminole County, Oklahoma, on November 24, 1917. He spent his boyhood in Maud, eventually graduating from Seminole High School. He earned both his Bachelor’s and his Master’s degrees from Oklahoma City University in Oklahoma.

During World War II, Edmond and his brothers enlisted in the US Army. The men served in Battery A of the 195th Field Artillery Battalion, and participated during the landings at Normandy in 1944 and the Battle of the Bulge in 1945. The story goes that one day in 1944, Edmond was talking with his brother in their native language. The pair were overheard by their Army captain, who quickly recognized that the men could communicate with each other in their native tongue on the army radio and not easily be understood by soldiers from the opposing army. That’s how Edmond became a Seminole Code Talker.

For his military service, Edmond was recognized in 2013 with the Congressional Gold Medal. He was also awarded the Eastern African Middle Eastern Campaign Service Ribbon, a Silver Service Star, and a Good Conduct Medal.

After the war, Edmond taught elementary school, first in Maud Public Schools, then in the Justice Public School in Wewoka, Oklahoma, and lastly in the Pickett Center School located in Ada, Oklahoma.

Sadly, Edmond Harjho passed away from a heart attack in Ada, Oklahoma, on March 31, 2014. He was 96 years old. When he died, he was the last surviving Seminole Code Talker. He was buried at the Seminole Nation Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Seminole, Oklahoma.

The normal school: A place to train Chalkboard Champions

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As I conduct my research about the numerous talented and dedicated Chalkboard Champions in American history, I sometimes come across terms that describe institutions of learning that were unfamiliar to me before I did my research. This was the case when I first came across the term “normal school.”

From my study, I learned that a normal school is an educational institution which provided training for high school graduates who had decided to become teachers. Today, these institutions are typically called “teachers’ colleges.” Much like teacher training colleges today, the original normal schools offered advanced courses in subjects that teachers would be expected to teach to their students. The school also provided instruction on how to organize and present lessons, what today we would call pedagogy and curriculum design. The term “normal school” derived from the intention of establishing teaching standards or norms.

The first public normal school in the United States was founded in 1823 by Samuel Read Hall in Concord, Vermont. Samuel Read Hall was an educator who, while serving as a headmaster of an academy, quickly discerned that the teachers in his employ needed to normalize or standardize their base of knowledge and their instructional practices. And so the first normal school in the United States was formed, based on models already founded in France and Germany.

The first state-sponsored normal school was established in 1839 in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1839. That educational institution later became Framingham State University, and is depicted in the sketch above.

Originally, both public and private normal schools offered a two-year course beyond the high school level, but in the 20th century, teacher training requirements were extended to a minimum of four years.

To read more about normal schools, see this link to the New World Encyclopedia