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.

Women’s History Month: Celebrating educator Maria Montessori

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Italian educator Maria Montessori developed innovative methods of child-centered instruction that are now used worldwide. Photo Credit: American Montessori Society

During Women’s History Month, we honor innovative educators who have made a decisive impact on schools. One of these is Maria Montessori,  an Italian educator and physician who spent a lifetime working towards developing innovative methods of child-centered instruction. Her prescription for education, which includes freedom of choice, self-motivation, and student autonomy, has proven surprisingly effective for many students of all ability levels.

Maria was born August 31, 1870, in the provincial Italian town of Chiaravalle. As a young woman, she broke gender barriers when she enrolled in medical school at the Sapienza University of Rome, where she graduated with honors in 1896. She became one of Italy’s first female doctors. In this role she developed a great interest in working with children who had developmental and physical challenges, and she devoted an entire career to helping them. Little did she know that long after she had left this earth, her strategies would still be used to help all children learn.

Maria opened her first school, which she named the Casa dei Bambini (Children’s House) in Rome on January 6, 1907. In the beginning, the children who attended were difficult to teach, but before long they showed increasing interest in working with puzzles, learning to prepare meals, and manipulating learning materials that Maria had personally designed. She observed how the children absorbed knowledge from their surroundings, essentially teaching themselves. From these observations, Maria developed her pioneering theories regarding educational pedagogy.

In the years that followed, Maria traveled the world and wrote extensively about her approach to education, attracting many followers. Today, there are thousands of Montessori schools in countries all over the globe. Her progressive instructional methods are reproduced in over 22,000 schools in 110 countries in schools that are known as Montessori schools.

Maria Montessori passed away May 6, 1952, in Noorwijk, the Netherlands. To read more about this amazing Chalkboard Champion, see this link at the American Montessori Society.

CA’s teacher Khamphet Pease strives to increase access to STEM

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California teacher Khamphet Pease, who earned a coveted PAEMST in 2020, works to increase access to STEM education for under-represented students. Photo Credit: San Diego Union-Tribune

I always enjoy bringing attention to exemplary teachers from all over the United States. Today I would like to share the story of an outstanding elementary school STEM teacher from San Diego, California: Khamphet Pease.

Khamphet earned a 2020 coveted Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST). This prestigious honor recognizes the dedication, hard work, and important role that America’s teachers play in supporting learners who will become future STEM professionals, including computer technologists, climate scientists, mathematicians, innovators, space explorers, and engineers. The honor comes with a $10,000 cash prize.

The honor is the fulfillment of the American Dream for her, says Khamphet. “My family and I arrived in the US as Laotian refugees with one dollar in our pockets and the hope that our new country would provide for a better life,” she explains. “Through hard work and the support of many, I have been able to reach the highest levels of my profession as an educator,” she continues. “I hope that my story inspires my students and others to strive towards greatness in their passions,” she concludes.

Khamphet has spent her entire 17-year teaching career at Woodrow Wilson Middle School in San Diego. She instructs STEM courses including Intro to Coding; Gateway to Technology: Design & Modeling; Automation & Robotics; and Computer Science for Innovators & Makers. In her classroom, the honored educator works tirelessly to increase access to STEM education for under-represented students including minority students, girls, and children from lower socioeconomic families. Through her curriculum, she focuses on project-based learning such as developing apps, games, and products that address a variety of local community issues. To extend her classroom curriculum, she founded the Wilson Robotics Club in 2012 where her students participate in robotics competitions like Botball and First Lego League (FLL).

In addition to her PAEMST, Khamphet has earned many accolades. In 2022, she garnered a San Diego Outstanding Educator Award from the Society of Women Engineers. That same year, she was honored by the Computer Science Teachers Association. In 2021, she was named the Outstanding K-12 Engineering Educator by the San Diego County Engineering Council. In 2019, she earned the National Center for Women & Information Technology Educator Award. In 2015, she was named San Diego County Teacher of the Year.

Khamphet earned her Bachelor’s degree in General Biology with a minor in Psychology and her Master’s degree in Curriculum Design and Teaching, both from the University of California, San Diego. In addition, she is certified to teach Gifted and Talented Education. She has a supplementary authorization in Computer Concepts and Applications and a credential in Career Technical Education with an emphasis in Engineering and Architecture.

To read more about Khamphet, see this article published in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Kindergarten teacher Amber Nichols named WV’s 2023 Teacher of the Year

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Kindergarten teacher Amber Nichols has been named West Virginia’s 2023 Teacher of the Year. Photo Credit: Marshall University

It is always my pleasure to shine a spotlight on outstanding educators who have earned accolades for their work in the profession. One of these is Amber Nichols, a kindergarten teacher from Morgantown, West Virginia. She has been named her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year.

Amber earned her Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications from Shepherd University in Shepherdsontown, West Virginia, in 2001. She earned her Master’s degree in Education from West Virginia University.

In a career that spans 21 years, the honored educator, who is a military wife, has taught in Arizona and Pennsylvania in addition to her current stint in West Virginia. She now teaches at Eastwood Elementary School in the Monongalia County School District in Morgantown.

In her classroom, Amber strives to create an environment in which all students feel safe, loved and appreciated. She says her teaching mantra is, “We are here for the kids, and we have each other.” Social and emotional development and academic achievement are the rigorous goals she sets for each child in her class. Amber also has background in teaching special education. In fact, she is a strong advocate for students with disabilities, especially those with medical differences. It is her distinct belief that, with the appropriate supports, all students can.

“I am passionate about teaching because it creates an opportunity to impact lives in a way no other profession can,” Amber declares. “My goal is to always foster a creative, inviting and welcoming atmosphere in my classroom that makes every student feel valued and pushes them to be their very best every day,” she continues.

In addition to her work with young students, Amber is an active member of her school’s leadership and curriculum teams. She is also a behavior intervention team member, a mentor teacher, and a co-operating teacher for both interns at West Virginia University and high school students at Monongalia County Technical Education Center.

As her state’s Teacher of the Year, Amber will receive a vehicle from Toyota Motor Manufacturing of West Virginia to use for the year; $5,000 from both Highmark West Virginia and the Horace Mann Companies; a $1,000 classroom grant from the West Virginia Education Association; a two-night stay at Tygart Lake State Park; a $250 Amazon gift card from West Virginia Professional Educators; and $500 from the American Federation of Teachers, West Virginia.

To read more about Amber, click on this link to a podcast by Leaders of Literacy containing the transcript of an interview with her.

Louise Archer taught in a segregated, rural one-room schoolhouse

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North Carolina teacher Louise Archer taught core academic subjects and life skills in a segregated rural one-room schoolhouse. Photo Credit: Louise Archer Elementary School

Our nation’s students are indeed fortunate to have so many dedicated and hardworking educators teaching in our public schools. One of these was Louise Archer, an elementary school teacher from North Carolina.

Louise was born on Oct. 23, 1893, in Fayetteville, North Carolina. As a young woman, she attended Livingston College, a historically Black Christian college located in Salisbury, North Carolina. She married Romulus Archer, Jr., in 1915. The couple relocated to Washington, DC, in 1922, and Louise continued her education at Morgan State College, a historically Black college in nearby Baltimore, Maryland. There she earned her Bachelor’s degree.

Louise inaugurated her career as an educator at the Oak Grove School in Southampton, Virginia, in a one-room schoolhouse for African American children. She taught there two years. In 1924, she became both the teacher and the principal for another one-room segregated school, the Vienna Colored School, located in Vienna, Virginia. The camped, unheated facility was the first in Fairfax County to educate African American students in fifth through seventh grades. For many, this was the only education they would receive.

The first boys who were the first to arrive at the rural school each morning chopped wood for the fire to keep the schoolhouse warm. Students brought water each day from a nearby spring and stored it in buckets in one corner of the classroom. Louise taught her students using tattered, secondhand textbooks, but she supplemented these with lessons in music and poetry. In addition, she taught her students life skills such as cooking, sewing, embroidery, cabinet-making, and rug-hooking.

In addition to her work in the classroom, Louise established a 4-H Club for African Americans in Fairfax County. Through this club, her students planted a garden and raised vegetables to add to a soup that was cooked each day on a potbelly stove.

By all accounts Louise was devoted to her young charges. For example, if they needed help getting to school, she drove them to the schoolhouse herself. She invited students to her home in Washington, DC, so they could experience a big city, and she let students use her home address when they enrolled in a DC high school so they could continue their education without paying expensive tuition fees.

Later in her career, Louise organized a Parent Teacher Association to raise money to buy much-needed classroom supplies. The group also raised money to construct a new schoolhouse, this one with three rooms, which opened in 1939. In 1941, she spearheaded fundraising efforts to pay for electric lighting, a music teacher, kitchen supplies, and bus transportation for the students.

Sadly, Louise suffered a heart attack and passed on April 1, 1948. In 1950, her school was renamed the Louise Archer Elementary School in her honor.