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.

Former teacher Dayna Polehanki now serves in Michigan Senate

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Former English teacher and Michigan State Senator Dayna Polehanki. Photo credit: www.senatedems.com.

It is no secret that many times, talented classroom teachers become very successful politicians. An excellent example of this is Dayna Polehanki, a former English teacher who now serves in the Michigan State Senate.

In  2018, Dayna was elected on the Democratic ticket to serve in the Michigan State Senate. She represents the 7th District there. She serves as the Minority Vice Chair on the Committees for Education and Career Readiness; Regulatory Reform; and the K-12 and Michigan Department of Education Appropriations Subcommittee.

Dayna is a long-time resident of Michigan. She graduated from Flushing High School in Flushing, Michigan. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Central Michigan University; her teaching credentials from Alma College, a private liberal arts college in Alma, Michigan; and her Master’s degree in Teaching from Marygrove College in Detroit. She also earned an administrator credential from the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals. Dayna taught English in the New Haven Community Schools District. Her career as an educator has spanned 19 years.

For her work in the classroom, Dayna has earned many accolades. In 2018, she was recognized as the Teacher of the Year for New Haven Community Schools, and the year before, she was one of two recipients of the Michigan Schools and Government Educator Advantage Scholarship.

Before Dayna became a teacher, she was the manager of Features Casting at Paramount Pictures. She is also the owner of a small business. For the past ten years she has been the owner of Detroit Casting Company, and she has also served as the Michigan casting director of such productions as Alex Cross, Into the Storm, and The End of the Tour.

Arturo Arredondo: Consummate counselor, PE teacher, and coach

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Arturo Arredondo, originally from Arizona, was a consummate school counselor, physical education teacher, and coach.

I always enjoy sharing stories about outstanding athletes who become teachers and coaches. One of these is Arturo Arredondo, originally from Arizona, who chose a career in education instead of professional baseball.

Arturo was born on August 21, 1931, in Kingman, Arizona. As a youngster, he attended Kingman High School, where he played varsity basketball, baseball, football, and track. He was particularly adept as a pitcher, and he was even scouted and drafted by the LA Dodgers, but Arturo chose instead to go to college.

As a young man, Arturo attended Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education. Later he earned a Master’s degree in Counseling from the University of California, Riverside.

After completing his Bachelor’s degree, Arturo inaugurated his career as an educator when he accepted a position as a sixth grade teacher in Douglas, Arizona. He also coached baseball and basketball. In 1958, he and his wife relocated to Riverside, California, where he became a teacher at Chemawa Junior High School. He taught Spanish there. Later he transferred to Riverside’s JW North High School, where he worked as a counselor. Arturo also worked as a counselor at both Mira Loma Middle School and Mission Middle School in the Jurupa United School District. Throughout his lengthy career as an educator, Arturo was an advocate for the rights of people in the Mexican American community. In addition, he worked tirelessly for such organizations as MeCha and ESAA. He also spent some time as the Director an an educational program called “Follow Through,” and he worked as a referee for local high school teams.

Arturo retired in 1998. In his golden years he established a translation service and indulged his love for language arts projects—he compiled a dictionary of English idioms, adages, and phrases and translated them into Spanish. This Chalkboard Champion passed away on August 19, 2021, from heart failure. He was 89 years old.

Novelist and former teacher Michele Young-Stone

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Novelist Michele Young-Stone once taught high school and middle school English in Virginia. Photo credit: Michele Young-Stone.

Talented English teachers often make excellent creative writers. This is true of Michele Young-Stone, a teacher and successful novelist from the state of Virginia. To date, Michele has published three novels.

Michele was born in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1971, although she was raised in Chester. At the age of 17 she moved to Richmond, Virginia, where she attended Denmark University. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in English there in 1992. In 1994, she studied at Africa University, where she earned her Master’s degree in Teaching Secondary English.

Michele taught high school and middle school English in Virginia’s Nottoway and Henrico counties. In 2002, when she was 30 years old, she resigned from her teaching position and enrolled at Virginia Commonwealth University as a full-time student to study creative writing. There she earned her Master’s degree in Fine Arts.

Michele published her first book, The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors, in 2010. Her second book, Above Us Only Sky, was published in 2015. Her third book, Lost in the Beehive, published in 2018, enjoyed success as an O Magazine 2018 Book Pick.

Today Michele teaches an advanced fiction writing workshop through a local organization known as the Muse Writers Center in Norfolk, Virginia. She has also started working on her fourth novel.

“With every new book, there’s a new adventure,” asserts Michele. “Every time, I hope the process will get easier, but it never does because each book is its own beast, its own treasure, a unique act of discovery,” she says. “If you’re not putting down layers and scraping them away, you’re not really learning anything. You’re not, as John Gardner wrote in The Art of Fiction, making art,” Michele concludes.

To learn more about this talented teacher, see her website at Michele Young-Stone.

Former athlete, teacher, and basketball coach Bethany LaSeur

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Former New York athlete Bethany LaSeur now enjoys success as a teacher and basketball coach. Photo credit: liHerald.

Many fine educators have also enjoyed success as an athlete. One of these is Bethany LaSeur, high school teacher and coach from New York who also earned a reputation as an excellent women’s basketball player.

Bethany was born on January 6, 1983. As a youngster, she attended Garden City High School in Long Island, New York. While there, she excelled at several sports, including basketball, lacrosse, and soccer. She led the team to three Long Island Championships Twice she was named Gatorade Player of the Year for New York (2000, 2001). She also garnered the title of Miss New York Basketball in 2001. She was recognized as a Street & Smith All-American, a USA Today All-American, and once she also started in the Nike-WBCA All America Game. As if all that were not enough, she was also a member of the National Honor Society/Merit Scholar.

She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University and her Master’s degree from Hofstra University. While there, she served as the team captain. She garnered many accolades, including Defensive Player of the Year and the Patricia E. Corace Hustle Award. Bethany was in the top ten in steals in the Big East in both her junior and senior years of college.

Today, Bethany teaches Business Education at East Meadow High School She also coaches the girls varsity basketball team. In addition, she is the Head Female Trainer for Pro Hoops, Inc., and she serves as the Directory of Female Programs for the Rising Stars Organization.

To read  more about this Chalkboard Athlete, see this interview of her published by Patch.com.