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.

Covid claims life of retired Wyoming teacher George Geyer

Posted on by

 

Teacher George Geyer succumbed to Covid-19 on August 20, 2021. Before his retirement, he taught History at Burrell High School in Burrell, Pennsylvania. Photo credit: Cowboy State Daily.

Sadly, educators continue to contract Covid-19. Retired teacher George Geyer of Wyoming is one of the most recent to succumb to the disease. He passed away on August 20, 1921. He was 81 years old.

The fallen teacher was born on June 7, 1940, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As a youngster, George attended Springdale High School. After his graduation, he earned his degree from Grove City College, where he graduated in 1964. Grove City College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Grove City, Pennsylvania. The school was founded in 1876 as a normal school to train teachers. As an athlete, George played football for both his high school and his college teams.

Until his retirement from the teaching profession in 1995, George taught history at Burrell High School, located in Burrell, Pennsylvania. He also served as his school’s football coach there.

Upon retirement, George relocated to Livingston, Montana, where he continued to coach football. For the past six years, he also worked in the Wyoming State Legislature in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Most recently, he worked as a doorman, a post he held since 2017. In that role, the former educator was responsible for both security and decorum at the Capitol. Positions like George’s are not high-paying and are often staffed by retirees. “They’re basically volunteers,” remarked Rep. Steve Harshman (R-Casper), who said he talked to Geyer every morning during the session.

As if all these responsibilities were not enough, George was active with Cheyenne Frontier Days, volunteering on the ticket committee and the parade committee, where he organized the youth program for the rodeo. The youth program was designed to recruit students aged 13 to 18 years of age to take the place of older volunteers who were retiring from rodeo duties. Under his watch, George was able to grow the program to 45 young volunteers. “The students are really crushed,” observed Rep. Harding. “The youth just absolutely adored him.”

To read more about this Chalkboard Champion, see this story published by the Casper Star Tribune.

Katie McGarvey named Illinois Special Ed Teacher of the Year

Posted on by

Congratulations to Katie McGarvey, who has been named 2021 Special Education Teacher of the Year by the Illinois State Board of Education. Photo credit: Journal & Topics.

When an educator is recognized for exceptional work in the classroom, this event is exciting to teachers everywhere. One educator who was recently honored was Katie McGarvey, a special education teacher from the northwest suburbs of Chicago. She was been named a 2021 Special Education Teacher of the Year by the Illinois State Board of Education.

Katie teaches Special Education at Hoffman Estates High School in District 211. Her career there has spanned a mere three years. Her students have intellectual and developmental disabilities. “For me, students come first,” Katie declares.  “I love seeing them every day, which drives my passion for this job,” she continues. “I hope to use that passion to continue to grow in a way that can always help the students,” she concludes.

“Katie is all about service to others,” asserts colleague Colleen Little.  “It’s been great to see her in action and to see her recognized.” In addition to her honors from the Illinois State Board of Education, Katie has also been honored as a 2021 Distinguished Alumni Award from Loyola University. She has also been inducted into Delta Kappa Gamma, a prestigious professional organization for women educators.

Katie graduated from Palatine High School in the small town of Palatine, Cook County, Illinois. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Special Education from Loyola University Chicago in 2018.

Covid-19 claims life of math, PE teacher Rodney Lee

Posted on by

We regret to report that Covid-19 claimed the life of elementary math and physical education teacher Rodney Lee of Dalton, Georgia, on September 6, 2021. Photo credit: Photo credit: Dalton Citizen.

We regret to report that Covid-19 has claimed the life of yet another beloved educator. Rodney Lee, an elementary school teacher from Georgia, succumbed to the disease on September 6, 2021. He was only 44 years old.

Rodney taught physical education at Varnell Elementary School in Dalton.  His wife, Lacey Lee, said her husband enjoyed young people. “He loved working with them, and it was really important to him to be a good role model for them,” she recalled.

Rodney inaugurated his career as an educator a math teacher. “He taught in middle school for one year and decided that wasn’t for him and went back to elementary school,” Lacey says. “Then the opportunity to become a physical education teacher came up, and he took it. That’s what he taught for the last 12 years or so,” she continued. “He was a great math teacher, but he just loved PE,” she concluded. In 2018, the fallen educator was recognized as the school’s Teacher of the Year. His career as a teacher spanned 18 years.

Rodney and Lacey met when they were both education students at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee. “There was a student-teaching abroad program,” Lacey remembered. “We both signed up for it, and we both spent about eight weeks teaching in England and got to know each other and fell in love.”

In addition to teaching, Rodney coached travel softball, basketball, and baseball. He was active with Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief and Georgia Baptist Builders, an organization which helps the needy with construction projects. “He would work on cars (for those in need),” remembered friend Allee Worley. “He would work on air conditioners. He would build wheelchair ramps. And he did everything with a cheerful attitude and a smile on his face,” she said.

To read more about Rodney Lee, see this article published by the Dalton Citizen.

Oklahoma’s Maude Brockway: Teacher and social activist

Posted on by

Oklahoma Territory teacher Maude Brockway worked tirelessly to improve social conditions for others. Photo credit: Public Domain.

Often times, hardworking educators dedicate their energy and talent to the improvement of social conditions for others. Maude Brockway, an African American teacher from Oklahoma, is one of these.

Maude was born on February 28, 1876, in Clark County, Arkansas. She was raised in Curtis, where she attended the Arkadelphia Presbyterian Academy, an elementary and secondary school founded to educate the children for former slaves. The school was operated under the auspices of the Presbyterian Board of Missions for Freedmen. Later Maude enrolled at Arkansas Baptist College located in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Once she completed her education, Maude moved to Indian Territory in Oklahoma, where she worked as a teacher in Ardmore and Berwyn in the Chickasaw Nation. Later she opened a hat-making business. In 1910, Maude relocated to Oklahoma City, then still part of the Oklahoma Territory. There she became involved in an activist movement that furthered the interests of African American citizens in the city. She was particularly active in the Black Clubwomen’s Movement in her area. This movement took place throughout the United States, functioning under the founding philosophy that women had a moral duty and responsibility to transform public policy.

As part of her work as an activist, Maude founded the Oklahoma Training School for Women and Girls in Sapulpa, Oklahoma. This school was later known as the Drusilla Dunjee Houston Training School. Later she established the Brockway Community Center in Oklahoma City. The center offered training courses, well-baby clinics, a daycare center, and a women’s health center which included a birth control clinic.

Sadly, Maude Brockway succumbed to a heart attack on October 24, 1959, in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, while attending a the state convention of the Women’s Auxiliary of the state Baptist Convention. At the time, the Chalkboard Champion was 83 years old. To read more about her, see this link to The Black Dispatch.