Author Archives: Terry Lee Marzell
Laura Baker-Coronis of Connecticut earns coveted Milken Award
Congratulations are due to Laura Baker-Coronis, a high school math teacher from Connecticut who has earned a 2021 Milken Award. She is one of only 60 teachers nationwide to garner the coveted honor this year.
Currently, Laura teaches ninth graders at Ansonia High School in Ansonia, Connecticut. Her students use algebra to solve mysteries, compare cell phone plans based on data usage, design cars, and use real world data to make predictions and figure out which careers provide the most income. In the Cereal Box Challenge, a highlight of her geometry classes, Laura’s students design boxes to hold specific volumes, with constraints like production costs, graphics, and having to fit multiple boxes into specified shipping cartons. Every activity Laura designs centers around discourse, peer review, and teamwork Laura also emphasizes socialization, open communication, respect, and mutual commitment.
In addition to her work in the classroom, Laura serves as Math Department Chair, mentors student teachers, leads professional development in her district, and works on district committees for curriculum development and SRBI (Scientific Researched-Based Interventions). During the pandemic, Laura trained colleagues in Google Classroom, created instructional math videos to engage students, and helped re-vamp the curriculum to help students hit priority standards, despite the challenges of remote instruction. She also created a “problem bank” with thousands of sample problems for all teachers to use in their instruction in an effort to raise her school’s SAT scores.
Laura earned her Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics in 2011 and her Master’s in Education in 2015, both from Southern Connecticut State University.
The Milken Educator Awards have been described by Teacher Magazine as the “Oscars of Teaching.” In addition to the $25,000 cash prize and public recognition, the award includes membership in the National Milken Educator Network, a group of more than 2,700 exemplary teachers, principals, and specialists from all over the country whose work strengthens best practices in education. To learn more, click on Milken Educator Awards.
Share this:
Former Virginia teacher Jane Haycock Woods also a successful politician
Former elementary school teacher Jane Haycock Woods was also a successful politician in the state of Virginia. Photo Credit: George Mason University
Many fine educators have also succeeded in the political arena. One of these is Jane Haycock Woods, an elementary school teacher who has served in the Virginia State Senate.
Jane was born on Oct. 10, 1946, in Bethesda, Maryland. As a young woman, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from American University, a private research university located in Washington, DC. Once she completed her degree in 1968, Jane taught in elementary schools in the Fairfax County Public School system for nearly two decades. Her career there spanned from 1968 to 1987, during which time she taught first grade at North Springfield Elementary School. During the course of her working life, Jane also worked with prisoners as a teacher through Metropolitan Prison Ministries, as a former Board Member and Government Counselor of Virginia Girl’s State, a member of the Advisory Board for Prevent Child Abuse Virginia, and as a Board Member of the Virginia YMCA.
Jane inaugurated her career as a politician when she was elected on the Republican ticket to represent the 37th District in the Virginia House of Delegates. She served there from 1988 to 1992. In 1992, she was elected to represent the 34th District in the Virginia State Senate. Her service in the Virginia Senate spanned from 1992 to 2000, during which time she served a portion of that time as the Chair of the Senate Committee on Education and Health. Jane continued her career in public office when she was appointed to the position of Secretary of Health and Human Resources by Virginia Governor Mark Warner. She served in that role from 2002 to 2006.
For her public service, Jane has earned important recognition. In 1987, she was named Outstanding Woman by the City of Fairfax Commission on Women.
Share this:
DC educator Sheri Frierson-Chenier garners PAEMST
Washington DC educator Sheri Frierson-Chenier has garnered a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching. Photo Credit: Sheri Frierson-Chenier
It is always a pleasure to share news about a fellow educator who has earned accolades for their work in the profession. Today I can share that Washington DC teacher Sheri Frierson-Chenier has garnered a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.
Sheri, who is originally from Los Angeles, California, once revealed that becoming a teacher was her childhood dream. Her career as an educator has spanned 15 years. She inaugurated her work in the classroom at Glenn Dale Elementary School in Glenn Dale, Maryland, where she taught kindergarten for three years. She has also taught third grade. Currently she teaches fifth grade and works as a STEM Coordinator at Kimball Elementary School in Washington, DC, where she had been employed for the past 12 years. There she also advises student programs such as the Robotics Club, the Science Fair, the STEM Career Fair, and the STEM Expo.
In addition to her work in the classroom, Sheri chairs the school’s Personnel Committee, the Local School Advisory Team, and the Academic Leadership team. And as if all that were not enough, she was a Fellow of DC Teaching is Central to Learning (TCTL), a program which enabled her to engage in professional development to understand the role of education policies and programs designed to improve teaching and learning.
Sheri’s PAEMST is not the only recognition she has earned. In 2018, she was a finalist for DC Public Schools Teacher of the Year, and in 2020, she was a finalist for the DC Office of the State Superintendent of Education Teacher of the Year.
Sheri earned her Bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, in Human Development in 2006, and her Master’s degree in Elementary Education in 2012, both from Howard University.
Share this:
Maren Michelet: Teacher of Scandinavian culture and languages
Educator Maren Michelet taught Scandinavian culture and languages in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Photo Credit: Public Domain
Many fine educators are well-known for sharing knowledge about their culture with their students. One of these was Maren Michelet, a teacher of Norwegian descent who promoted Scandinavian culture and languages in Minnesota’s public classrooms.
Maren was born on May 26, 1869, in Minneapolis. When she grew up, she became a teacher local schools. According to legend, she was the first teacher of Norwegian descent at South High School, located in what was then was the most Scandinavian neighborhood of the city. When she inaugurated her courses in Scandinavian languages, no textbooks and no curriculum guides available for the classes. She invented her own instructional strategies and tried a variety of strategies for engaging the interest of her students. She talked to them about the Viking period, discussed incidents in the history of Norway, and shared information about the nature of the land. She taught lessons about the country’s poets and assigned short Norwegian for the students to memorize.
Eventually, Maren authored materials to help with her instructional program. In 1914, she published First Year Norse, a Norwegian high school grammar textbook. In 1916, she published Glimpses from Agnes Mathilde Wergeland’s life, a translation of Glimt fra Agnes Mathilde Wergelands liv, the biography of Agnes Wergeland, a Norwegian American historian, poet, and educator, and the first woman to earn a doctorate in Norway. She also edited a version of Terje viken by Henry Ibsen. In addition, Maren made literary contributions to Norwegian and American newspapers and magazines.
In addition to these publications, this exceptional educator also served important roles in organizations that promoted the culture. In 1917 she served as an officer of the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study, and in 1923 she was elected the organization’s Education Secretary.
Maren Michelle passed away on Feb. 5, 1932. She was 62 years old.
