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.

Unleashed makes a terrific story for your students to read

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Author Terry Lee Marzell and her fur baby, Kurby, share Unleashed! The Dog Park Chronicles Photo Credit: Hal Marzell

The upcoming school year is a terrific time to encourage your students to pick up a leisure reading book, or read one aloud to them during class!  I suggest my most recent book, Unleashed! The Dog Park Chronicles, which is now available in both paperback and ebook versions from amazon.comand barnesandnoble.com. This is my first novel for young people. But the volume has also garnered praise from both children and adults who have read it and loved it!

In the book, I have created a charming cast of animal characters and their human companions who live in or visit the local dog park. Each event which takes place holds an essential message about kindness, community, inclusion, and personal responsibility. There are also messages of anti-bullying and anti-prejudice.

In addition, the narrative includes commentary about how young people can appreciate nature, even if they live in a suburban environment. I explore themes related to the migratory patterns of Canada geese, the natural instincts of the animal characters, and the progression of the seasons.

The dog park described in the novel, Vila Borba, really exists! It is located not far from my home in Chino Hills, California. And depicted on the cover of the book are two of my very own pets! The little white terrier mix on the front cover is Kurby, whose rescue story is described in Chapter 4. (In the book the Kurby character is named Bowser.) The elegant black and white tuxedo pictured on the back cover is my own ladycat, Licorice.

This 156-page book would make a terrific book to read. If you have already purchased the book, thank you so much! I hope you would consider writing a review of the story on amazon. I am also asking for support to offer an AR (Accelerated Reading) quiz for the story. You could make a request for this at the AR website.

Have a great school year!

Back-to-School words of encouragement

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As the start of a new academic year is upon us, educators all over the country are contemplating ways to create a successful first day of school. Here are a few thoughts.

Think about what you want to accomplish with your students, right from the start. Of course, classroom management is important, but current educational philosophy suggests that classroom management is easiest when students are actively engaged in stimulating and meaningful activities. So, avoid reading aloud a list of your classroom rules and expectations or your course syllabus. Also, don’t plan a lecture. It’s a snore for the kids, and your throat will be sore by the end of the day.

To create a memorable first day, plan an activity that introduces students to your classroom values. Presumably these values would include respect for peers and working well together. Consider ice-breakers that encourages students to interact with each other. Reward them for learning the names of their classmates. It’s also a great idea to try and learn the names of your students as quickly as possible so that you can greet them by name on their second day. Also, create activities that give kids opportunities to help you and their classmates get to know what is unique about them. Example activities would include a round of Two Truths and a Lie, a Shoe Pile Mingle, or Never Have I Ever.

Another customary classroom value emphasizes the joy of learning. Many teachers want their class to be an exciting adventure as they and their students explore learning together. Crafting an activity that is interactive introduces this classroom value right from the beginning. Consider planning a trivia game, collaborative drawing, or a scavenger hunt.

Whatever you plan for that first day, just be sure it is stimulating and engaging. The time will be well spent if the effort kicks off the school year with a sense of excitement for your class or subject. And that list of classroom rules an expectations and the course syllabus? Consider emailing these to parents before the school year begins, and having them reply that they have received it, perhaps with a simple phrase such as “I Agree.” Or use the communication as an opportunity to invite parents to dialogue with you about their child’s individual needs or concerns.

Above all, have a great year!

PE teacher and coach Mamie Redman once played women’s pro baseball

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Magdalen “Mamie” Redman, who played for the All American Girls Professional Baseball League, taught mathematics and physical education and coached a variety of sports after retiring from the League. Photo Credit: All American Girls Professional Baseball League

Many times excellent physical education educators were established athletes in their own right. One of these was Magdalen “Mamie” Redman, a math and PE teacher and coach who also played in the All American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) during World War II.

Mamie was born on July 2, 1980, in Waupin, Wisconsin. When she was young, girls were not allowed to participate in Little League Baseball, so Mamie was confined to playing sandlot ball with her neighborhood friends. By the time she was 17, though, she was able to join an organized softball team in Oconomowoc, about 17 miles away from her home town. It was while she was playing there that her talent was spotted by an AAGPBL scout.

After signing with the AAGPBL, Mamie travelled to Opa-locka, Florida, for spring training in 1948, and then she was assigned to the Kenosha Comets. At 5’5″, 150 lbs., Mamie served as the team’s catcher and third baseman. She played for the Comets from 1948 to 1950, and then transferred to the Grand Rapids Chicks, where she played from 1950 to 1954. While playing there, she helped her team win the Championship Series in 1953. In all, Mamie played seven years in the AAGBL. Once the League was disbanded in 1955, Mamie was recruited to play for a national touring team known as the All American All Stars, a team comprised of women players who toured the country competing against male teams.

After she retired from baseball, Mamie earned her Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, with minors in Physical Education and Biology, from the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. For the next 37 years, she taught mathematics and physical education and coached a variety of high school sports at Valdez, Mukwonago, and Oconomowoc High Schools.

To commemorate her impressive career as an athlete, Mamie’s story became part of the Women in Baseball exhibit at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. She was also inducted into the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame, the Wall of Honor at Miller Park in Milwaukee, and the Waupun High School Hall of Fame. In addition, the 1992 film A League of Their Own shared the story of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League to generations of baseball fans.

In her final years, Mamie Redman lived in Oconomowoc. She passed away on Aug. 22, 2020, at the age of 90.

 

Experiencing the music of Warsaw’s Chopin

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Author Terry Lee Marzell and her husband Hal visited Royal Lazienki Park in Warsaw, {plans, where a monument has been erected to honor the brilliant composer Frederik Chopin. Photo credit: Terry Lee Marzell

Summer is prime time for teachers—and students—to incorporate travel into their vacation plans. Many people, both young and mature, know that travel, in addition to being fun and intellectually stimulating, is one of the most meaningful learning opportunities available. That’s why last month, my husband Hal and I planned a tour of the countries of Eastern Europe.

While my husband Hal and I were touring Warsaw in Poland, we were offered an optional excursion to attend a piano recital of selected works by celebrated composer Frederic Chopin. To be honest, neither Hal nor I are big classical music fans, but as we told each other, how could we go to the city that loves her native son so devotedly and not sample the good man’s music?

Earlier in the day, our tour group visited Royal Lazienki Park where a monument has been erected to honor the brilliant composer. There Chopin is depicted sitting beneath a windswept weeping willow, his eyes closed and his hand extended, as if he were playing an invisible piano. The pose is said to symbolize his connection to nature.

The statue was originally erected in 1926, but when the German Army rolled in to occupy Warsaw in 1940, the monument was blown up. A local legend says that the next day a handwritten placard was found among the rubble bearing the message, “I don’t know who destroyed me, but I know why: So that I won’t play the funeral march for your leader.” Fortunately, a cast of the original statue had been made, so when WWII was over, a duplicate was constructed and erected in 1946. Today, the memorial is graced by a placid reflecting pool, impeccably manicured lawns, and a field of profusely flowering rose bushes. The scene was lovely.

And also educational. Our local tour guide led us to a park bench and pressed a button embedded in the bench. “Well, there’s something you don’t see every day,” I commented to Hal in an aside. Yolante explained that in Warsaw, there are fifteen of these Chopin Benches located at various sites that were significant to the composer’s life, each featuring a button that when pressed plays a short excerpt of his music. Each bench plays a different Chopin composition.

Yolante told us that Chopin, who’d been sickly all his life, passed away in Paris, in 1849. He was only 39 years old. He is buried in Pere Lachaise Cemetery. Hal and I remember stumbling upon his grave there when we visited France in 2015. On a macabre note, per his deathbed request, after Chopin’s passing, his heart was removed by his doctor, preserved in alcohol, and returned to Poland in 1850, where today it is enshrined in Warsaw’s Holy Cross Church.

On the night of the concert, we made our way to Warsaw’s Fryderyk Concert Hall. This elegant space was comparatively small, with chairs for only about 100 people. We were fortunate enough to be seated in the front row.

Our pianist for the evening was a well-known Polish chamber musician, recording artist, and music educator. He’s played at festivals and concerts all over Europe, and he’s a regular guest of the National Philharmonic Orchestra in Warsaw.

The audience was filled with anticipation as the pianist entered the concert hall and took his seat at the Steinway. For about an hour he regaled us with skillful renditions of Chopin’s compositions. The composer’s work is well-known for being technically complex—very difficult to master—and for evoking strong emotional responses with his music. Neither Hal nor I are Chopin experts, but we agreed that the pianist appeared to perform the pieces with great technical skill—I had a close, clear view of the keyboard and watched with awe at the speed and dexterity with which his hands dashed across the keys. When the recital was concluded, we came away feeling it was certainly worth the effort and expense.

Certainly it may be very rare that a public school music educator in the United States would be able to escort his or her students to Warsaw to explore Chopin’s memorial and attend a concert there, but it might be possible to attend a recital in your home town. Why not see if you can provide such an excursion for the young people in your classroom?