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.

Chalkboard Champion Septima Poinsette Clark: Activist of the Civil Rights Movement

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Chalkboard Champion and activist Septima Poinsette Clark was an integral part of the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s. Photo credit: Charleston Raconteurs

Chalkboard Champion and activist Septima Poinsette Clark was an integral part of the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s. Martin Luther King, Jr., often called her “The Mother of the Movement.” In fact, this remarkable educator earned the Martin Luther King, Jr., Award in 1970, the Living Legacy Award in 1979, and the Drum Major for Justice Award in 1987.

Septima was born in Charleston, South Carolina, on May 3, 1898. Her father was born a slave, and her mother, although born in Charleston, was raised in Haiti and never experienced slavery. After Septima graduated from high school in 1916, she didn’t have the money to finance her college education. Nevertheless, she landed a position as an elementary teacher in a school for African American Gullah children on John’s Island in South Carolina’s Sea Islands. By 1919, Septima returned to Charleston to teach sixth grade at Avery Normal Institute, a private academy for Black children. Before long, Septima became involved with the Charleston’s chapter of the NAACP, which inaugurated her involvement in Civil Rights activities. In the 1940s, Septima was finally able to return to school, taking summer school courses to earn her college degree. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Benedict College and her Master’s from Hampton University.

In the 1950s Septima found herself working at the Highlander Folk School in Monteagle, Tennessee. She was instrumental in fighting against Jim Crow laws by organizing citizenship schools to teach underprivileged African Americans basic literacy skills, voter registration techniques, and the history of the Movement. At Highlander, Septima served as the director of workshops, trained teachers, and recruited students.One of the participants in her workshops was Rosa Parks. Shortly after participating in the Highlander workshops, Rosa helped launch the now-famous Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Septima Clark passed away on John’s Island on December 15, 1987, of natural causes. This talented and dedicated teacher was 89 years old.

STEM educator Sharita Ware named Indiana’s 2022 Teacher of the Year

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Congratulations to Sharita Ware of Lafayette, Indiana, who has been named her state’s 2022 Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: Purdue University

Congratulations to Sharita Ware, an engineering and technology education teacher from Lafayette, Indiana! She has been named her state’s 2022 Teacher of the Year.

In her tenth year as a professional educator, Sharita teaches seventh and eighth graders at East Tipp Middle School at the Tippecanoe School Corporation in Lafayette. Her real-world, problem-based curriculum presents students with challenges that will help them contribute to their community. Included among the projects her students have worked on are designing prosthetic legs for Barbie dolls, building race cars, and programming robots.

Sharita also hosts after-school activities which provide students with opportunities to be innovative and creative through such programs as FIRST Lego League, the Monday Maker Hour, and March Maker Magic. “Our maker space gives kids freedom. You will have desired learning outcomes, but the way that they get to that learning outcome could be totally different from student to student and group to group,” says Sharita. “It is messy, and it’s hard for some teachers to have it be that messy. Sometimes, you think, ‘Is anything happening here?’ Kids will do projects completely different from each other, but they will learn the same thing,” she continued. “It’s pretty awesome to watch — if your nerves can handle it,” she concluded.

Sharita earned her Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering Technology from the Purdue Polytechnic Institute in 1993. She earned her Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction from Purdue University in 2013. In addition, she is certified in the Gateway to Technology program sponsored by Project Lead The Way. She worked in engineering and marketing in the private sector for a number of years before become an educator.

In addition to her honors as Indiana State Teacher of the Year, Sharita is a Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellow in the STEM Goes Rural program at Purdue University. She was also involved in the College of Technology Leadership and Innovation Advisory Board from 2014 to 2019.

Read more about Sharita Ware in this article published by Purdue University.

Students gift retired teacher Pablo Robertson with ticket to the 2022 Super Bowl

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Retired Spanish teacher Pablo Robertson from Upland, California, will be attending the 2022 Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood today. The tickets, too pricey for Pablo to afford, have been gifted to the beloved educator from his former students. Photo credit: Pablo Robertson

I always enjoy sharing stories about educators who have earned the affection, appreciation, and admiration of their students. One of these is Pablo Robertson, a retired Spanish teacher from Upland, California. His former students love him so much they have banded together to buy him a ticket to the 2022 Super Bowl, just because they know he’s such an ardent Rams fan.

With a single ticket going for between $8,000 to $9,000, Pablo decided attending the game in person was not within the realm of possibility, so he was planning to watch the big game on television from home. But then he learned his students raised more than $10,000 on a GoFundMe page organized by his former student, Laura Salcido. She was Pablo’s student in 2003. Within three days, almost 100 of Pablo’s former students from Spanish classes he taught over his 40-year career at Upland High School contributed.

Pablo was born in New York in 1950, and relocated to Southern California when he just a ten-year-old. As a teenager, he graduated from Upland High School in Upland. By then, he’d already become a die-hard Rams fan. In 1979, Pablo became a teacher at his alma mater. Over the decades, he became well-known throughout the school for his classroom display of Rams memorabilia, which included banners, flags, pictures, and other collectables. But even more importantly, Pablo became a beloved mentor for young people. “He didn’t just teach Spanish,” recalled former student Sarah Wolframm, who graduated in 1993. “He was about teaching life and life lessons and life skills. Spanish was just a perk we learned on the side of the most important lessons,” she continued.

Throughout his career, Pablo’s love for his students was always visible. In addition to his Spanish-language instruction, he spent most of his weekday afternoons taking and developing photographs of his students at pep rallies and sporting events. He gifted the photos to the students or used them to create bulletin boards in his classroom. In addition, since 1994, the beloved educator served as a play-by-play announcer at the school’s athletic events. Even though he retired ten years ago, he still does this today. “I loved teaching Spanish, I love kids, I love photography, I love announcing. Teaching was an ideal career for me,” Pablo declares.

Enjoy the game, Pablo!

Beloved Sp Ed teacher and coach Jerry Landers succumbs to Covid-19

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Covid-19 claims the life of beloved high school Special Education teacher and girls basketball coach Jerry Landers of Tennessee. Photo credit: Tennessean

Sadly, we must report that Covid-19 has claimed the life of yet another beloved educator. Jerry Landers, a teacher and coach at Gallatin High School in Gallatin, Tennessee, succumbed to the disease on January 9, 2022. He was 60 years old.

Jerry worked at the Gallatin in the Sumner County School District since 2013. There he taught Special Education History and coached the girls basketball team. He served a the last five years as the Head Basketball Coach. After Jerry led his team to a 21-10 record and a Region 5 AAA Quarterfinals appearance, he was named the 2019-2020 District 9-AAA Coach of the Year.

But, says Gallatin High School Principal Ron Becker, “He was much more than just a coach. He was a mentor and a genuinely great guy. It wasn’t all about wins and losses with him as he was more focused on life and mentoring our kids.,” Becker remembered. Jerry’s wife, Nancy, agreed. “Jerry knew he could make a difference by teaching and coaching,” Nancy said. “His love for sports allowed him to reach people, and he always used that to help his students bloom.”

In addition to his work in the classroom and on the basketball court, during his lengthy career as an educator, Jerry coached volleyball, track and field, in addition to serving as a school athletic director, a youth leader, and a Sunday school teacher.

Jerry Landers, born March 30, 1961, was a native of Nashville, Tennessee. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Pensacola Christian College, a private Baptist college located in Pensacola, Florida. He earned his Maser’s degree from Union University in Hendersonville in Hendersonville, Tennessee.