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.

Middle school teacher Helen Riehle served in Vermont Senate and House

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Former middle school teacher Helen Riehle also served in both the Vermont Senate and House of Representatives. Photo Credit: SupportVTDigger

Many fine educators have also served as capable politicians. This is true of Helen Riehle, a former middle school teacher from Vermont who also served as a member of both her state’s Senate and House of Representatives.

Helen was born on May 5, 1950, in Somerville, New Jersey. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Vermont in 1972. After earning her degree, Helen worked as a middle school teacher from 1975 to 1985.

In 1992, Helen was elected on the Republican ticked to the Vermont House of Representatives. She served there from Jan. 1983 through Jan. 1993. She also served in the Vermont State Senate where she represented most of Chittenden County from Jan. 1993 through Jan. 2001. She then took on the role of Chair of South Burlington City Council, a position which she held until she was appointed by Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin to serve in the State Senate a second time. During her second stint there, which spanned the dates of March of 2016 through Jan. of 2017, she filled the seat of Diane Snelling who left the position to head the Green Mountain State’s Natural Resources Board. As a legislator, Helen chaired the committees for Health and Welfare; Administrative Rules; and Health Access in both the House and Senate.

In addition to her work as a politician, Helen has experience as the Executive Director of the Champlain Valley Area Health Education Center (AHEC) in St. Albans and as the Executive Director of the Vermont Program for Quality in Health Care. She has also been active on numerous non-profit and higher education boards in the Chittenden County region, including University of Vermont, Burlington College, and Vermont Public Television.

Today, Helen lives in Burlington, Vermont. She is 72 years old.

B. F. Bowles: Educator and leader of the African American community

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Educator Benjamin Franklin Bowles earned a place in history as a leader of the African American community. Photo Credit: The St. Louis Globe-Democrat Magazine

I always enjoy sharing stories about dedicated educators who have also earned a place in history for their work as a leader of the African American community. One of these is Benjamin Franklin (B.F.) Bowles, a teacher and principal from Missouri.

B. F. was born on April 3,1869, on a farm near Cooperville in Pike County, Ohio. As a young man, he attended Wilberforce University, a private university in Wilberforce, Ohio, where he earned his degree in 1905.

After he earned his degree, B. F. relocated to Illinois, where he taught for six years in elementary schools in both DuQuoin and Metropolis. Next, he accepted a position as the principal of Lincoln High School in East St. Louis, Missouri, where he worked from 1896 to 1914. He also instructed courses at Lincoln University, a historically African American college located in Jefferson City, Missouri.

Like so many Black leaders of his day, B. F. worked to improve the lives of his community. In 1921, the Chalkboard Champion signed a petition circulated by the NAACP in support of the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill. Also, to increase opportunities for education for Black students, B. F. founded Douglass University in 1926 to offer education opportunities to Black students in segregated St. Louis. The institution offered degrees in education, law, medicine, engineering, architecture, public administration, liberal arts, fine arts, and more. B. F. operated the school until the late 1920’s, when he was compelled to turn over the leadership of the school because of declining health. Despite a change in leadership, the school remained open intermittently for two decades.

B.F. spent his entire life supporting teachers. He was a life member of the National Association of Teachers in Colored Schools. He was also a member of the St. Clair County Teachers’ Association and the East St. Louis Teachers’ Association. In addition, he served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors for the University Club of St. Louis.

B. F. was also an accomplished musician and composer. He could play any brass instrument from the cornet to the tuba. In fact, he authored a book on the subject: The Musician’s Manual: Technics of the Brass Instrument.

Sadly, Benjamin Franklin Bowles—educator, Black community leader, and musician—passed away on Sept. 29, 1928. He was only 59 years old. He is interred in Saint Peter’s Cemetery in Normandy, Missouri.

 

Cherie Bonder Goldman garners 2022 Georgia State Teacher of the Year honors, yet education is her second career

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Elementary teacher Cherie Bonder Goldman of Savannah, Georgia, has been named her state’s 2022  Teacher of the Year. Yet teaching is a second career for the honored educator. Photo Credit: The Atlanta Journal Constitution

Many excellent educators come to the classroom years after establishing successful careers in the private sector. One of these is Cherie Bonder Goldman, an elementary school teacher in Georgia who originally worked in the advertising industry. Teaching may be Cherie’s second career, but clearly education is her calling. She is so good at the job that she has garnered the title of 2022 Georgia State Teacher of the Year!

Cherie was born to a Jewish family in New York and was raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Japanese from Georgetown University in 1993, and her Master’s degree in East Asian studies from Stanford University in 1995. Originally her goal was to become a Japanese language teacher. Unfortunately, jobs in that field were scarce, and so she accepted a position in advertising, first working on the Toyota account at Saatchi & Saatchi, and then working on the Clorox account at DDB Worldwide Communications Group.

Despite her success in the corporate world, deep down inside Cherie knew she belonged in the classroom. After she moved to Savannah, Georgia, she enrolled at Armstrong Atlantic State University, where she earned her Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education. She also completed coursework to become an Education Specialist in Teacher Leadership from Mercer University in 2019.

Cherie launched her career as an educator when she accepted a position with Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools, first at White Bluff Elementary, and then at Hesse K-8 School, where she has taught for the last 12 years. She currently teaches English to Speakers of Other Languages.

“I always strive to make content personally relevant so students never ask, ‘What’s the point?'” declares Cherie. for example, “In math, we design dream homes, calculating area for carpet and perimeter for fencing. In writing, we pen letters to the principal supporting or disagreeing with school uniforms so students understand the exponential power of well-articulated opinions,” she says. “When students connect content to their world, education transcends the classroom,” Cherie concludes.

At Hesse, in addition to her work int he classroom, Cherie serves on the Leadership Team and chairs the Schoolwide Writing Team. She has also served as a grade level-lead, the Site-based Induction Specialist, the Professional Learning Liaison, and a School Council member.

For her exemplary work in the classroom, Cherie has garnered honors as the 2022 Georgia State Teacher of the Year. In this role, she has chaired a task force established to investigate the root causes of teacher burnout and to make actionable suggestions for improvement to state and local policy makers.

CT teacher Lori Durocher earns prestigious PAEMST honors

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Kindergarten teacher Lori Durocher from West Hartford, Connecticut, has earned a prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. Photo Credit: we-ha.com

Many excellent classroom teachers are working diligently to train students in skills they will need to succeed in the 21st century. One of these is Lori Durocher, an elementary school teacher from West Hartford, Connecticut. She is so good at her job that she earned a prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST).

Lori has spent the last 26 years teaching in a full-inclusion kindergarten program at Norfeldt Elementary School in West Hartford. Before joining the staff at Norfeldt, she taught for five years at Bethany Community School in Bethany, Connecticut. In all, her career as an educator has spanned 31 years.

In the classroom, Lori works to incorporate science and engineering applications into all areas of the curriculum. In this way, students see themselves as scientists and engineers, not only during “science time,” but also throughout the entire instructional day. She specializes in developing innovative science adventures that appeal to young children and opportunities through which students work collaboratively to theorize, construct, and test hypotheses. In addition to her classroom instruction, Lori is an active member of the Faculty Advisory Committee and the Technology Committee. She also presents at early childhood education forums and mentors early childhood student teachers.

For her work as an educator, Lori has garnered West Hartford Foundation Grant Awards, not just once, but six times. Four of those occasions she received the award for science. She also serves her district as a Seesaw ambassador, and as an ambassador for Go Noodle. Twice she has been named a finalist for West Hartford Teacher of the Year, in 2004 and again in 2021.

Lori earned her Bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, in Elementary Education with a minor in Psychology in 1990, and her Master’s degree, magna cum laude, in Early Childhood Education in 1994, both from Southern Connecticut State University.