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.

Ali Snabon-Jun named Nevada’s 2026 Teacher of the Year

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Ali Snabon-Jun of Las Vegas, Nevada, has been named her state’s 2026 Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: :as Gas Sun

There are many outstanding educators who work in public schools throughout our country. I am always happy when one of them garners national attention for their dedication and hard work. One of them is Ali (Alexandra) Snabon-Jun, an elementary music teacher from Las Vegas, Nevada. She has been named her state’s 2026 Teacher of the Year.

Currently, Ali teaches at Tyrone Thompson Elementary School. There she leads two choirs, produces full-scale musicals, and helps her students learn singing, dancing, and instruments. Her classroom instruction includes lessons on rhythm, musical notation, and ear-training. More than 900 students participate in her music education programs.

In addition to her work at Thompson Elementary, Ali serves on the Superintendent’s Teacher Advisory Cabinet, she contributes to the Nevada Portrait of a Learner initiative, and she mentors beginning educators. In addition, she organizes field trips for her students to go to the Las Vegas Philharmonics.

Her selection as Nevada’s Teacher of the Year is not the only award Ali has garnered. In 2021, she garnered a prestigious Milken Educator Award, often called the “Oscars in Teaching.” In 2023 she was named the recipient of an Unsung Heroes Fellowship, and in 2024, she was honored with a Teacher Appreciation Award by the DeCastroverde Law Group.

Ali is a native of Buffalo, New York. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Music Education in 2003, and her Master’s degree in Music Education in 2004, both from Syracuse University. While working on her Master’s, she served as a teaching assistant and represented the School of Music on international performance and outreach tours to Brazil, Poland and the Czech Republic. She taught for two years on Long Island before relocating to the West. In all, Ali’s career as an educator spans 21 years.

To learn more about Ali Snabon-Jun, click on this link to her profile on CCSSO National Teacher of the Year Program.

 

Maryland teacher Victorine Adams was also a politician, community activist, and philanthropist

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Baltimore public school teacher Victorine Adams was also a successful politician, community activist, and philanthropist. Photo credit: Maryland Dept. Human Services

To celebrate Black History Month, we pay homage to outstanding African American educators who work with young people in America’s schools. One of these was Victorine Adams, a public school teacher in Baltimore, Maryland.

Victorine was born on April 28, 1912, in Baltimore. As a young woman, she attended Frederick Douglass High School, graduating in 1928. She attended Coppin State Teachers University and later earned her college degree from Morgan State University in 1940. She also completed courses at the New York University School of Business Administration.

After she earned her degree, Victorine accepted a position as a teacher in the Baltimore Public Schools. Her career there spanned 14 years.

The classroom is not the only place where Victorine excelled. In 1943, the young educator was one of five women influenced by Mary McLeod Bethune to secure a charter for the Baltimore chapter of the National Council of Negro Women. Bethune was the founder of the national organization located in Washington, DC, which sought to empower African American women. In addition, Victorine founded the Colored Women’s Democratic Campaign Committee in 1946. This organization encouraged Black women to register to vote and recruited them to run for public office.

In 1966, Victorine was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates on the Democratic ticket. She gave up her seat the following year when she was elected to the Baltimore City Council representing the 4th District. She was the first African American woman to be elected to this position. She served four terms in this role.

In 1979, as a member of the City Council, Victorine worked with the Baltimore gas and Electric Company to establish a fuel fund that was designed to help economically-disadvantaged families pay their heating bills. Later the fund was renamed the Victorine Q. Adams Fuel Fund. program became a model for similar programs in other American cities.

Over the course of her lengthy career, Victorine and her husband, William Adams, provided college scholarships to a number of African American students. She also served as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Barrett School for Girls. The couple also provided financing for many of Baltimore’s Black-owned businesses.

Victorine passed away on Jan. 8, 2006, at the age of 93. She is interred at Arbutus Memorial Park in Arbutus, Maryland. To read more about this Chalkboard Champion, view the article about her at this link to BlackPast.org.

 

 

Tennessee CTE teacher Jerry Webb nominated for 2025-2026 LifeChanger of the Year Award

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Career and Technical Education teacher (CTE) Jerry Webb of Chattanooga, Tennessee, has been nominated for a 2025-2026 LifeChanger of the Year Award. Photo credit: National Life Group

I am always excited to share the news that a hardworking educator has earned accolades for the work they do in our nation’s classrooms. Today, I share the news that Jerry Webb, a teacher in Chattanooga, Tennessee. has been named one of 74 nominees for the 2025-2026 LifeChanger of the Year Award distributed by the National Life Group.

The prestigious LifeChanger of the Year Award recognizes educators who exemplify excellence, leadership, and positive influence in their school community. The winner of the award will garner a $20,000 grand prize, to be shared with the school, and several smaller cash prizes.

Jerry teaches Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses at IVY Academy, a tuition-free, public charter middle and high school located in Chattanooga. There he teaches in the Next Generation Sustainable Living (NGSL) program. The goal of the program is to inspire students to improve the lives of others, and to develop the skills they need to accomplish this. Some of the projects Jerry organizes include leading his students to design solar-powered systems, build off-grid tiny homes, and create solar backpacks.

“One of the most powerful experiences in my career has been traveling with students to Honduras, where we installed a solar-powered computer lab in a community that had never known electricity,” Jerry remembers. “Watching my students place a computer mouse into the hands of a child who had never touched technology, watching them power up a room full of possibilities, was life-shifting. My students came home different. They came home wiser. They came home understanding the weight and worth of what they can do,” he continued.

In addition to teaching these courses, Jerry serves as the coach for the Ivy Academy EV Racing Team. The participants on this team design, build, and race electric vehicles as part of a hands-on program that teaches engineering, renewable energy, teamwork, and innovation.

Jerry’s career as an educator spans 21 years. To learn more about this remarkable educator, click on this link to an article written about him published by the National Life Group.

 

 

Chalkboard books part of collections of numerous prestigious libraries

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I always get excited when I learn that one of my books has been added to the collection of a prestigious university library. A search of WorldCat reveals that both of my books have been added to the collections of numerous prestigious university libraries.

My first book, Chalkboard Champions (Wheatmark: 2012), has been added to the library of West Virginia State University in Institute, West Virginia, and to the library of Queensboro Community College in Bayside, New York. It is also a part of the collection of the twelve other academic libraries. These include the University of Arizona, Tucson; University of Hawaii at Manoa in Honolulu, Hawaii; the City University of New York in New York, New York; and Berea College in Berea, Kentucky. The volume is also part of the collection of the libraries of Winona State University in Winona, Minnesota; the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi; and the State University of New York in Oswego, New York. The book is also available at Hunter College in New York, New York; Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey; Salem State University in Salem, Massachusetts; and the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. In addition, it is part of the collection of the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.

Chalkboard Heroes (Wheatmark: 2015) has been added to the collection of the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. The volume is also included in the collections of the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles, California; Chadron State University in Chadron, Nebraska; the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi; and the University of Chicago Library in Chicago, Illinois. The volume can also be found in the Alaska State Library in Juneau, Alaska; Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana; and Central Connecticut State Library in New Britain, Connecticut.

Many thanks to all these prestigious libraries for honoring my work!