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.

Marilyn Johnson: Teacher, Diplomat, WWII US veteran

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Many talented classroom educators also exhibit exceptional talent in the diplomatic arena. This is certainly true of Marilyn Johnson, a high school foreign language teacher who also served our country as a diplomat. Ultimately, she became the US Ambassador to Togo.

Marilyn was born on June 19, 1922, in Boston, Massachusetts. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Radcliffe College in 1944. As a young woman, she was quite athletic, and at one time considered pursuing a career as a physical education teacher, but chose liberal arts instead. Later, Marilyn completed courses at the University of Geneva and at the Sorbonne. Then she returned to the US and enrolled at Middlebury College in New England, where she earned her Master’s degree in French in 1952.

Marilyn was also a military veteran. During World War II, between the years of 1944 to 1946, she served in the US Navy. She trained as a midshipman, but ended up working in communications security in a job that focussed on breaking codes. She also worked for a time as a counselor at the Philadelphia Naval Hospital, where she provided occupational therapy and training to blinded servicemen.

Once she earned her Master’s degree, Marilyn accepted a position as a high school French teacher at Amherst Regional High School in Amherst, Massachusetts. There she taught French for the next seven years, while taking courses in educational psychology, the history of education, and methodology at both Harvard and Smith College. In 1960, she was selected to be part of the Fulbright teacher exchange program. Through the program, she traveled to Orleans, France, where she taught at the Lycée Jeanne d’Arc for two years. 1962, Marilyn traveled first to the African country of Cameroon and then to Mali, where she taught English as a foreign language in several schools. She left her last teaching position in 1964 when she became a diplomat in the Foreign Service.

In the Foreign Service, Marilyn accepted a position as a Cultural Affairs Officer, first in Bamako, Mali, and later in Tunis, Tunisia. She also served as a Public Affairs Officer in Niamey, Niger, and from 1971 to 1974 she served as the Deputy Assistant Director of the Information Centers Program. The following year she attended the Seminar in Foreign Policy, and after learning the Russian language, she was assigned to be a Cultural Affairs Officer in Moscow in the former Soviet Union. That was in 1976.

On Sept. 23, 1978, Marilyn was appointed to the position of Ambassador to Togo by President Jimmy Carter. She served in that position until July 29, 1981.

Today, Marilyn Johnson is 99 years old. She’s a true Chalkboard Champion!

 

American educator Jimmy Hill killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine

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American educator Jimmy Hill has been killed in the Russian attacks on Chernihiv, Ukraine. Photo Credit: Daily Beast

Jim Hill, an American educator, has been killed in the Russian attacks on Chernihiv, Ukraine, a city about two hours north of Kyiv. Jimmy was among dozens of civilians killed by an onslaught of Russian artillery fire on Thurs., March 17. He was 68 years old.

Jimmy was in the country to teach, but stayed even after the invasion, despite deteriorating conditions and increasing danger. He wanted to be by the side of his long-time partner, Iryna Teslenko. She had been hospitalized to receive treatment for a chronic condition, and she was too ill to flee the invasion.

Despite the growing risk beyond the hospital walls, Jimmy ventured out in search of food. He was waiting in a bread line with several others when they were targeted by Russian gunfire, said his sister Cheryl Hill Gordon in a Facebook post. After the attack was over, the beloved teacher was found dead with his US passport on his body, reported the Wall Street Journal.

Jimmy, a native of Minnesota, possessed a degree in social work. For the past 25 years, he has taught various universities throughout Europe, including a stint as an Associate Professor in the Foreign Language and Philology Departments at the University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice. He also worked as a guest lecturer at MCI Management Center Innsbruck, and as a lecturer at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
Jimmy also taught at the Prague Summer Schools. “This is with a great regret that we heard about the tragic death of professor Jimmy Hill,” posted the Prague Summer Schools on Facebook. “Jimmy was a passionate teacher in our Summer School on Crime, Law and Psychology program since 2014 and was loved by the students from all over the world. We will miss Jimmy very much.” The school offers academic programs covering the social sciences, including European politics, economics, psychology education, and current event.

Bertha Boschulte: Talented teacher and tireless women’s suffragist

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Teacher, principal, and public health official Bertha Boschulte of the Virgin Islands was also a tireless women’s suffragist. Photo Credit: Public Domain

Many talented educators devote their considerable energy to social issues. One of these was Bertha Boschulte, a teacher, principal, and public health worker from the Virgin Islands who dedicated herself to women’s suffrage in her home territory.

Bertha was born on March 30, 1906, in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. After her graduation from Charlotte Amalie Junior/Senior High School, she taught for one year. Then she moved to the mainland, where she settled in the state of Virginia and enrolled in the Hampton Institute. There she earned her Bachelor’s degree, with distinction, in English and Mathematics in 1929.

Following her graduation from college, Bertha returned to the Virgin Islands, where she accepted a teaching position at her alma mater, Charlotte Amalie High School. During the next few years, while teaching and serving as the secretary of the St. Thomas Teachers Association, Bertha became a champion of the women’s suffrage movement. She was one of numerous women teachers who attempted to register to vote and had been denied. The teachers’ union filed a lawsuit, and earned a ruling in their favor.

By 1938, Bertha had been promoted to be principal of the Charlotte Amalie school, but after a few years, she decided to return to the United States, where she enrolled at Columbia University’s Teachers College. There she earned her Master’s degree in Educational Administration in 1945. After securing her teaching credential in 1946, Bertha accepted a teaching position at New York’s PS 81.

While in New York, the forward-thinking educator became involved with the International Assembly of Women, a conference organized by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to advance the goals of political equality for women and support the establishment of the United Nations. In 1947, Bertha returned to the Virgin Islands, where she worked with colleagues to establish a teachers’ institute to offer training to educators who wanted to improve their instructional practices.

Bertha launched a new chapter of her life in 1950 when she relocated to Ann Arbor, Michigan, to pursue a Master’s degree in Public Health. The following year, her goal achieved, she returned to the Virgin Islands, where she was appointed the Director of the Statistical Service for the territory’s Health Department. She served in that department until 1963. In 1964, this amazing former teacher was elected to the Legislature of the Virgin Islands, where she served one two-year term as a Senator. In 1969, Bertha was appointed to serve on the Commission on the Status of Women, and in 1970, she was elected to the Board of the Territorial Department of Education, where she was served as the Chairperson.

For her tireless work as an educator, public health official, and women’s suffragist, Bertha was named Woman of the Year by the Federation of Business and Professional Women in 1965. In 1981, the Bertha C. Boschulte Middle School in Bovoni was named in her honor. This Chalkboard Hero passed away on August 18, 2004. She was 98 years old.

Covid-19 claims life of Texas teacher and new mom Alexandra Chandler

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We are sad to report that Covid-19 has claimed the life of Texas elementary school teacher and new mom Alexandra Chandler. Photo credit: Heritage Funeral Home

We are sad to report that Covid-19 has claimed the life of yet another beloved educator. Alexandra Chandler, a fifth grade teacher from Fort Hood, Texas, succumbed to the disease on Feb. 13, 2022. She was just 27 years old, and she was a new mom.

Alexandra taught fifth grade reading and writing at Montague Village Elementary School in the Killeen Independent School District in Fort Hood, Texas. Even though she was vaccinated, she hesitated to return to work after Winter Break, because she was just days from delivering, and Covid-19 cases were surging. Despite her reservations, Alexandra went back to the classroom.

At the time of her passing, the elementary school teacher had just given birth to her first child, a son she and her husband named Beau, born Jan. 9, 2022. While at the hospital, both Alexandra and her newborn were diagnosed with Covid-19, but the pair were discharged and sent home. Five days later, both were readmitted to the hospital for difficulties breathing. Alexandra’s health declined, and she was placed on a ventilator. She passed away a few days later.

Alexandra was born on Sept. 20, 1994, in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Her family moved to Belton, Texas, when she was 11 years old. Following her high school graduation from Belton High School in 2013, the fallen educator earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education from Texas A&M Central Texas, summa cum laude, in 2017. She earned her Master’s degree from the University of North Texas in 2021.

“As a little girl, Alex always wanted to be a teacher,” remembered Jenny Clay, Alexandra’s mother. “It wasn’t so much that she chose teaching as teaching chose her.”