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.

NYC teacher Shara Breit earns a 2023 Big Apple Award

Posted on by

New York City elementary school teacher Shara Breit has been recognized as an exceptional educator with a 2023 Big Apple Award. Photo Credit: New York City Department of Education

New York City is very proud of their public school teachers. In fact, city educational leaders regularly recognize exceptional teachers with their annual Big Apple Award. In 2023, one of these educators was Shara Breit, an elementary school teacher from Staten Island.

Shara teaches fourth grade at Public School 11, also known as Thomas Dongan School. Her professional philosophy is that every student in her classroom should have “voice and choice.” Upon entering her classroom, students and alike immediately feel they are immersed in a relaxed atmosphere and culture that invites all students to succeed. Shara makes sure that her youngsters are provided with enrichment opportunities and projects that have been created in collaboration with her students. Some of these have even gone schoolwide.

Shara says she understands that keeping her students at the center of the instructional program means engaging their families in their education, too. She regularly invites families to lessons she calls “Parents as Learning Partners.” These lessons are interactive. During the pandemic, the lessons were provided virtually, and once the school returned to in-person instruction, many parents requested their children remain remote with Shara, because they simply did not want to leave the popular teacher’s online platform.

In addition to her responsibilities as a classroom teacher, Shara serves as a Grade Team Leader, a social and emotional learning (SEL) coordinator, and a data specialist. In her role as the data specialist, she facilitates grade-level and school-level (horizontal and vertical) Inquiry/Impact Team work to decide upon the best instructional practices to promote the highest levels of student achievement at all grade levels.

The Big Apple Award was presented to 20 New York City teachers. Each one was nominated by their principal for work in the profession that inspires students, models great teaching, and enriches school communities. The recipients were chosen through a rigorous selection process that includes community nominations, principal recommendations, classroom visits, an interview, and a review by a board of judges. To learn more about the program and this year’s recipients, click on this link to Big Apple Awards.

LA teacher and coach Brittany Bonnaffons named her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year

Posted on by

Louisiana math teacher and track coach Brittany Bonnaffons has been named her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year. Photo Credit: Louisiana Life

I am always happy to share the story of an exceptional educator who has been honored for their work with students. One of these is Brittany Bonnaffons, a math teacher and coach from Luling, Louisiana. She has been named her state’s 2023 Teacher of the Year.

Brittany is originally from Midland, Texas. She moved to the New Orleans area as a junior in high school. Once she graduated from high school, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Louisiana Scholars’ College at Northwestern State University. She earned her Master’s degree in Business Administration from Louisiana State University. She earned a second Master’s degree, in Exercise Science, from the University of Louisiana Monroe. She earned a third Master’s degree in Education from Northwestern University.

Brittany currently teaches Algebra to ninth graders at Hahnville High School in Luling. The students that are enrolled in her classes have low scores on their middle school standardized tests, but because of her intervention, 63% of the students who were not on track to pass the LEAP and 93% of her remaining learners pass the Algebra 1 LEAP 2025.

This Chalkboard Champion’s career as an educator has spanned 12 years so far. But Brittany didn’t originally choose teaching as her profession. She was successfully working in corporate America when she started volunteering as a track and field coach at Hahnville High School in 2018. When her husband noticed her passion for working with the young people, he suggested she go into teaching.

Brittany still serves as the Head Coach for her school’s track team. During her tenure, the team has captured four district championships and has taken regional runner-up honors twice. Among her athletes, there have been more than 50 individual district medalists, more than 30 individual regional medalists, and more than 10 state medalists.

 

Iowa teacher Heather Anderson recognized as frontrunner in STEM education

Posted on by

Elementary school teacher Heather Anderson has a reputation as a frontrunner in STEM education. Photo Credit: Iowa STEM Advisory Council. 

Here is one educator who has earned a name for herself as a frontrunner in STEM education: Heather Anderson, an elementary school teacher from Waukee, Iowa.

Heather teaches second grade at Grant Eagan Elementary in Waukee, where she has worked since 2014. In her classroom, Heather has created a Makerspace area, and in this space she encourages students to bring parts or materials to class to examine how things are made. She has also organized a bristle-bot honeybee construction unit, which has become a favorite learning activity among her students.

For her efforts to further STEM education, Heather has received a whopping total of 28 different STEM-related grants. She has also garnered no less than four awards through the STEM Scale-Up Program. She was selected the first elementary teacher to participate in the Iowa STEM Teacher Externships Program in 2017. In addition, she has participated in the National Summer Institute in Japan and the NEAF Global Learning Fellowship in Peru. And, as if all this were not enough, she sits on the Des Moines Public School Board.

For her work in STEM education, Heather has earned many accolades. She was the recipient of the 2015 NEA Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence on a national level. That same year, she was named the recipient of a California Casualty Award for Teaching Excellence. In 2014, she earned an Outstanding Volunteer Award from the Iowa Urban Tree Council. In 2013, she was awarded an

Heather earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Upper Iowa University in 1997. She was also certified by the Iowa Montessori Training Center in 2006.

Nice going, Heather!

During Black History Month, we celebrate educator Mary McLeod Bethune

Posted on by

In honor of Black History Month, we celebrate one of America’s most illustrious educators, Mary McLeod Bethune. Photo Credit: National Park Service

In celebration of Black History Month, I would like to shine a spotlight today on one of our country’s most illustrious African American teachers. She is Mary McLeod Bethune.

Mary was born on July 10, 1875, to former slaves in a log cabin on a plantation in Maysville, South Carolina. She was the only one of her parents’ 17 children to be born into freedom. When the Civil War was won, Mary’s mother worked for her former owner until she could buy the land on which the McLeod family grew cotton. By nine years of age, young Mary could pick 250 pounds of cotton a day.

Even as a youngster, Mary showed an unusual interest in books and reading. However, in those days it was rare for African Americans to receive an education. Nevertheless, a charitable organization interested in providing educational opportunities for Black children established a school near Mary’s home. Her parents could scrape together only enough money to pay the tuition for one of their children, and Mary was chosen. Later, the future educator earned a scholarship to attend the Scotia Seminary, a boarding school in North Carolina. She graduated from there in 1894. She also attended Dwight Moody’s Institute for Home and Foreign Missions in Chicago, Illinois. Her studies there spanned two years.

When she grew up, Mary retained her strong desire to extend educational opportunities to other African Americans. She became a teacher in South Carolina. While there, she married fellow teacher Albertus Bethune. In 1904 Mary founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute for Negro Girls in Daytona Beach, Florida. Beginning with five students, she helped expand the school to more than 250 students over the next few years. Today, this school is known Bethune-Cookman University.

In her later years, Mary became a close friend of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and also a trusted adviser to President Franklin Roosevelt. In recognition of her outstanding abilities, the President made her a member of his unofficial “Black Cabinet.” He also appointed her the head of the National Youth Administration in 1936. In 1937 the indefatigable educator organized a conference on the Problems of the Negro and Negro Youth, and she fought tirelessly to end discrimination and lynching. In 1940, Mary became the Vice President of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Persons (NAACP), a position she held for the rest of her life. In 1945, she was appointed by President Harry Truman to be the only woman of color present at the founding meeting of the United Nations.

This celebrated educator passed away peacefully on May 18, 1955. For all her accomplishments, Mary McLeod Bethune is truly a Chalkboard Champion. To read more about her, see this link at the website for the National Women’s History Museum.