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.

Best-selling author Stephen King was once a high school English teacher

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Best-selling author Stephen King was once a high school English teacher. Here he is in his classroom in Hampden Academy in Hampden, Maine, in 1973. Photo Credit: Reddit

Most people are very familiar with the popular novels and short stories of talented horror fiction writer Stephen King, but did you know he was once a high school teacher?

Stephen was born on September 21, 1947, in Portland, Maine. His father was a merchant seaman, and his mother was a kitchen worker in a facility for the developmentally handicapped. When Stephen was only two years old, his father abandoned the family, and after that his mother struggled to support herself, Stephen, and Stephen’s older brother, David.

When he was young, Stephen attended Durham Elementary School, and then Lisbon Falls High School in Lisbon Falls, Maine, where he graduated in 1966. Even as a child, Stephen displayed an interest in horror fiction. He was an avid reader of EC’s horror comics, which included the stories of Tales from the Crypt.  He began writing for his own amusement, contributing articles to Dave’s Rag, a home-based newspaper his brother published with a mimeograph machine. Later he began selling stories to his classmates based on movies he had seen, though he was forced to return his profits when his teachers discovered the enterprise. The first of Stephen’s stories to be independently published was “I Was a Teenage Grave Robber,” published in a popular fanzine in 1965.

Following Stephen’s graduation from high school in 1966, he enrolled as a student at the University of Maine, Orono, declaring a major in English. During his college years, he wrote a column for the student newspaper, The Maine Campus, entitled “Steve King’s Garbage Truck,” participated in writing workshops, and took odd jobs to help meet his living expenses, including one stint at an industrial laundry.  He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He sold his first professional short story, “The Glass Floor,” to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967.

After graduating from the University of Maine in 1970, Stephen earned his high school teaching credential, but was unable to find a teaching position right away. To earn a living, he sold short stories to men’s magazines such as Cavalier. In 1971, Stephen was hired to teach at Hampden Academy, a public high school in Hampden, Maine. He continued to contribute short stories to magazines and worked on ideas for novels. After his novel Carrie was published, Stephen left his job as a high school teacher to write full time, but he continued his career as an educator when he was hired as a professor of creative writing at the University of Maine, Orono.

Today, at age 75, Stephen King lives in Bangor, Maine. His wife, Tabitha King, is also a successful author. Stephen and Tabitha provide scholarships for local high school students and  contribute to many other local and national charities.

Welcome, Earth Day!

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Welcome, Earth Day! Today marks the 53rd anniversary of the first observance of this popular non-secular holiday. This year’s Earth Day theme is Invest in Our Planet.

As an educator, you have the opportunity to spark a passion in students that will drive them to do their part. Young people can, and do, make a big difference in helping to protect the earth’s environment. Whatever Earth Day activities you have decided to organize for your students, know that your hard work researching and planning is appreciated!

 

Governor Michael Dunleavy of Alaska was once a history teacher

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Former high school History teacher Michael Dunleavy currently serves as the Governor of the state of Alaska. Photo Credit: The Hill

Many excellent educators also go on to successful careers in politics. One example of this is Michael Dunleavy, a history teacher from Juneau, Alaska, who currently serves as the Governor of the state.

Michael was born on May 5, 1961, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Once he graduated from Scranton Central High School in 1979, he enrolled at Misericordia University, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in History in 1983. He completed the requirements for his Master’s degree in Education and his teaching credential from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, in 1991.

Michael was working at a logging camp on Prince Wales Island in southeast Alaska when he accepted a position to teach within the Arctic Circle in the northwest part of the state. He invested nearly 20 years there working as a teacher, principal, and school superintendent. He also served a stint as the Director of K-12 Outreach through the University of Alaska Statewide. And he is the former Program Manager of the Alaska Statewide Mentor Project.

While working in the north, Michael married Rose Newlin, a Native American of Inupiaq heritage who was born and raised in the small community of Noorvik in Alaska’s Kabuk River Valley. In fact, the population there is only 700 people. Together, the couple have three children.

In 2004, Michael and his family relocated to Wasilla, where he founded an educational consulting firm and worked on several statewide educational projects. He also served on the the School Board for Matanuska-Susitna Borough, including a two-year stint as the organization’s president.

In 2012, Michael was elected to the Alaska State Senate on the Republican ticket, and served there from 2013 to 2018. While in the Senate, he served on the committees for  Education; Judiciary; Transportation; and Finance. He also served as the Chair of the Educational Transition Team, and he was member of the Subcommittees for Education and Early Development; Fish and Game; Administration; and Law.

Next, Michael was elected the Governor of Alaska in 2018. In 2022 he was re-elected to the office, and he continues to serve in that role. During his terms, he has placed focus on effective pandemic response, fiscal responsibility, crime prevention, and the energy issues that are particular to the state.

MI Educator Glenda Lappan develops nationally-used math curriculum

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Former Michigan high school math teacher Glenda Lappan earns national recognition for developing the Connected Mathematics curriculum for middle schoolers. Photo Credit: Michigan State University

Have you ever heard of the Connected Mathematics instructional program for middle schoolers? If you have, then you have also probably heard of the curriculum developer, educator Glenda Lappan.

Glenda was born in 1939, and was raised as an only child on a farm in southern Georgia. After her graduation from high school, she attended Mercer University, where she earned her undergraduate degree in 1961. She earned her PhD at the University of Georgia in 1965.

Once she earned her undergraduate degree, Glenda taught mathematics at the high school level for several years in Georgia.

In 1965, Glenda earned a position as a professor of mathematics at Michigan State University. She taught there until her retirement in 2015, a total of 50 years. During these years, she directed the middle school portion of a project sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). Her goal there was to help develop curriculum and evaluation standards for math.

When she completed that project, Glenda inaugurated her next endeavor, the Connected Mathematics Project. With colleague Elizabeth Phillips, she conducted research and developed five curriculum units for teachers and students focused on important ideas in mathematics. The undertaking was received so well it expanded from there. Today, the project’s curriculum is taught in all 50 states. It has even been assigned “Exemplary” status by the US Department of Education.

In addition to her research and teaching responsibilities at Michigan State, Glenda served as the President of the NCTM from 1998 to 2000. During her presidency, the volume Principles and Standards for School Mathematics was published. Later Glenda served as the Chair of the Mathematical Sciences Education Board of the National Academy of Sciences. She has also worked in Washington, DC, as Vice-Chair of the Mathematical Sciences Education Board at the National Academy of Sciences (1994-1998), and she served for nine years on the National Education Research Policy and Priorities Board of the US Department of Education.

For her work in the field of education, Glenda has earned many accolades. She garnered the Louise Hay Award from the Association for Women in Mathematics in 1996. She was named a University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State in 1998. In 2002, the Connected Mathematics Project established the Lappan/Phillips/Fitzgerald Endowed Chair in Mathematics Education at Michigan State, named after Glenda and two other esteemed founders of the Connecte Math Project. The NTCM honored her with their Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. Glenda and colleague Elizabeth Phillips shared the International Society for Design and Development in Education Prize. Finally, Glenda was inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame in 2009.

To learn more about the Connected Mathematics Instructional Program, click on this link to Educational Designer.

 

Texas educator Monica Washington inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame

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Former high school English teacher Monica Washington from Texarkana, Texas, is one of only five educators nationwide who have been inducted into the 2023 class of the National Teachers Hall of Fame.  Photo Credit: Linked In

Congratulations to educator Monica Washington, a former English teacher from Texarkana, Texas. She is one of only five educators nationwide who have been inducted into the 2023 class of the National Teachers Hall of Fame (NTHF).

Monica inaugurated her career as a teacher in 1998 at an inner-city school in Memphis, Tennessee. After transferring to Texas High School in Texarkana, she taught English and AP English and served as the Department Chair at Texas High School for nine years there. During her career, she has also served as a a coordinator for the AVID program (Advancement Via Individual Determination) and a REACH co-ordinator on her campus. Over the course of her 20-year career, she has taught grades 7-12.

Monica once confessed that she has wanted to be a educator since she was a child. She revealed that when she was young, she taught teddy bears in her room and later “tortured” friends from her neighborhood with lessons on her porch. She says that the encouragement to learn and teach came from her mother and other teachers in her life.

In addition to her work at Texas High, Monica is an adjunct professor at both LeMoyne-Owen College and Texarkana College. She is member of the NEA Foundation Board and chairs the NEA Teacher Advisory Committee. She has also co-chaired the Leading the Profession Committee for the Texas State Teachers Association. Additionally, she has served in the Texas State Teachers Association and the National Network of State Teachers of the Year. And, as if all this were not enough, she is also an instructional coach for BetterLesson.

The honor she has garnered from the NTHF is not the only recognition Monica has received. She was selected the Texas State Teacher of The Year in 2014. The same year, she garnered the Ermalee Boice Instructional Advocacy Award and an NAACP Special Achievement Award. In 2015, she was named a Lowell Milken Center Unsung Hero Fellow. The same year she was selected as a NEA Foundation Global Fellow and travelled to Peru to study the educational system there. In 2022, she was selected a Voices for Honest Education Fellow. In this role, Monica

Monica earned her Bachelor’s degree in English from LeMoyne-Owen College in 1998. She earned her Master’s degree in English from the University of Memphis in 2003. She completed the requirements for a degree as a Specialist in Education from Walden University in 2019.

The National Teachers Hall of Fame was founded in Emporia in 1989 to honor outstanding educators through a recognition program and museum. Nominees must be certificated public or non-public school teachers, active or retired, with at least 20 years of experience in teaching grades pre K-12. Since the inaugural induction ceremonies in 1992, 145 educators from 40 states and the District of Columbia have been inducted. To learn more about the program, click on this link to the NTHF.