Author Archives: Terry Lee Marzell
Oregon’s Ron Antlitz named a 2023 Regional Teacher of the Year
Special Education teacher Ron Antlitz from the North Clackamas School District in Clackamas, Oregon, has been named a 2023 Regional Teacher of the Year. Photo Credit: Oregon Teacher of the Year
There are many fine educators who work in American public schools, and their dedication and hard work has not gone unnoticed. In fact, one of them, Ron Antlitz of Clackamas, Oregon, has just been recognized as a 2023 Regional Teacher of the Year for the North Clackamas School District.
Ron has dedicated the majority of his 26-year career to working with middle and high school students that have been diagnosed with emotional and behavioral disabilities. For the past ten years, he has taught in the structured learning center at Alder Creek, where he developed a comprehensive program to help students overcome behavioral issues and make rapid academic progress.
He’s helped advance more equitable practices in schools, such as restorative justice programs that replace traditional discipline approaches. Above all, he is known as a strong advocate for students, working tirelessly to meet the needs of the whole child. “Ron approaches his work with compassion and a deeply held belief that each of his students deserves a high-quality school experience that includes access to academics as well as positive peer interactions,” declares Kelli Rhea, Principal of Alder Creek Middle School.
Larry Didway, Superintendent of Clackamas Education School District, agrees. “Our selection panel was particularly impressed with Ron’s career-long commitment to addressing the holistic needs of each of his students, and his strong advocacy for more equitable practices in education,” Midway says. “He is an outstanding representative of the countless Clackamas County teachers who are making an immense difference in the lives of students every single day.”
Ron was one of 16 teachers chosen by Education Service Districts throughout the state of Oregon to receive a regional honor. Regional winners were identified through a local nomination, application, and selection process facilitated by Education Service Districts. Applicants were selected on the attributes of leadership, instructional expertise, commitment to equity, community involvement, understanding of educational issues, and professional development. Each Regional Teacher of the Year receives a $1,000 award from the Oregon Lottery.
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GA teacher Natasha Berry recognized as outstanding educator
Elementary school teacher Natasha Berry has been recognized for her outstanding work in the classroom. Photo Credit: Valdosta Daily Times
It is always a pleasure to share the story of an outstanding teacher working in public schools. One of these is Natasha Berry, an exceptional STEM teacher from the state of Georgia.
Natasha inaugurated her career as a professional educator in 2003 after earning her Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Valdosta State University. She also earned certification in Gifted and Talented Education. She currently works as a STEM Lab teacher for Henry County Schools in Henry County, Georgia. Prior to that, she taught third graders at Sallas Mahone Elementary School in the Valdosta City School District, and before that, she taught in the Lowndes County system for 14 years. In all, her career as an educator spans 20 years.
The daughter of a military veteran, Natasha was forced to relocate several times as a child, but she spent most of her life in Valdosta. Despite her moves, Natasha had strong support for education in her childhood home. “I come from a family of educators. My mother and many of my aunts and uncles are in the education profession,” she reveals. “I grew up watching and admiring the countless hours my mom spent using her creative talent to make learning exciting and engaging for the students inside her classroom every single day.”
For her work in the classroom, Natasha garnered a 2023 Gale Samuels Award from the Georgia Teachers of the Year Association. The honor is bestowed in memory of Gale Samuels, a beloved educator at the Georgia Department of Education who contracted leukemia and passed away in 1998. Samuels was considered instrumental in promoting excellence in teaching in her state.
The Gale Samuels Award is not the only recognition Natasha has earned. In 2022, she was named a finalist for Georgia Teacher of the Year. In 2019, she was honored as the Sallas Mahone Teacher of the Year, and that same year this Chalkboard Champion was named the Valdosta City Schools Co-Teacher of the Year.
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Educator and author Renee Jones named Nebraska’s 2023 Teacher of the Year
Congratulations to high school English teacher and author Renee Jones, who has been named her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year. Photo Credit: Lincoln Public Schools
Congratulations are due to high school teacher Renee Jones from Lincoln, Nebraska. She has been named her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year!
Renee teaches English, reading interventions, and oral communications courses at Lincoln High School. She says that connecting with students is the key to their academic success. In her classroom, she emphasizes building relationships. In fact, she says her philosophy can best be summarized as connection before curriculum. “Connecting students is the most influential and important element of my role as a teacher,” Renee declares. “Connecting students with me, with their peers, and with themselves, is at the heart of gaining the confidence they need,” she continues. Renee is so passionate about and successful at this practice that she was selected to speak on the topic at the 2022 South by Southwest (SXSW) EDU National Conference in 2022.
Renee’s selection as the 2023 Nebraska Teacher of the Year is not the only recognition she has earned. In 2019, she garnered the Foundation for Lincoln Public Schools Inspire Award.
And these awards are not the only accomplishments Renee can boast about. During the pandemic, Renee authored a memoir describing the complications of balancing her work with her responsibilities as the mother of four young children. The volume, published by Google books in 2021, is entitled It Was Always Four: My Pandemic Journey in Becoming and Walking Away from Life as a Stay-At-Home Mom.
Renee earned her Bachelor’s degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Nebraska, Omaha. She earned her Master’s degree in Educational Leadership in 2020 from Doane University, a private university located in Crete, Nebraska. She inaugurated her career as an educator in 2015 when she was hired to teach English at Bryan Community Focus Program in Lincoln. In all, her career as an educator has spanned eight years.
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Maryland educator, politician, and civil rights activist Verda Welcome
As part of our Black History Month celebration, we recognize Maryland’s Verda Welcome: Educator, politician, civil rights activist, and community activist. Photo Credit: Preservation Maryland Trust
During Black History Month, we celebrate the many African American teachers who have dedicated themselves to social and political causes outside of the classroom. One of these educators was Verda Welcome, a teacher, politician, civil rights activist, and community activist from the state of Maryland.
Verda was born on March 18, 1807, in Lake Lure, North Carolina. She was one of 16 children of farmers John and Docia Freeman. As a young girl, Verda attended North Carolina and Delaware public schools. The young scholar always planned to pursue higher education. However, following the death of her mother in 1928, she found herself with limited financial resources to pursue her goal. Undaunted, she worked as a domestic during the day and attended school in the evening. Eventually she earned her high school diploma. “I had to make the daily sacrifices needed to keep my dreams intact,” Verda once declared.
In 1929, Verda moved to Baltimore to continue her education at Coppin Normal School. There she earned her teaching certificate in 1932. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in History from Morgan State College in 1939. She completed the requirements for her Master’s Degree from New York University in 1943. In her later years, Verda was awarded honorary doctorates from Howard University, Morgan University, and the University of Maryland.
During her youth, Verda learned first-hand that African Americans were often underpaid, under-educated, and underprivileged. She determined to make a positive impact in the Black community as an educator, and so she taught in the Baltimore City Public Schools for 11 years.
In 1959, the dedicated teacher was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates to represent the Fourth District. She was the first Black woman to achieve that distinction. Verda served as a delegate until 1962, when she was elected to the Maryland State Senate. She was America’s first African American female state senator.
Verda served in the Maryland State Senate until 1982. Between the State House and the State Senate, she devoted a total of 25 years of service in the legislature. Significant among her accomplishments there was the passage of legislation dealing with such issues as discrimination in public accommodations, equal pay for equal work, the harassment of welfare recipients, illegal employment practices, voter registration, the abolition of capital punishment, and reforms in the state’s correctional facilities.
For her many important achievements in the area of civil rights, this amazing educator was inducted into Maryland’s Women’s Hall of Fame in 1988. Verda was 83 years old when she passed away on April 22, 1990, in Baltimore.
To read more about this amazing Chalkboard Champion, see this article published in the Baltimore Sun.
