Author Archives: Terry Lee Marzell
Consider gifting an inspirational book during upcoming Teacher Appreciation Week
Teacher Appreciation Week is coming up soon! This year, the celebration will take place from May 5 to May 9. When thinking about the best way to honor your teacher, or your child’s teacher, or friends and family members that are teachers, or someone you know that is going into the profession, consider gifting them with an inspirational book.
I suggest one of these two inspirational books, Chalkboard Champions and Chalkboard Heroes. The books make great reading anytime, but especially now, while educators are considering new and innovative ways to work with their students. They are also appealing to history buffs and social scientists. Each volume is packed with inspirational stories about remarkable educators in American history and the historical implications of their pioneering work.
Among the captivating stories in Chalkboard Champions is the story of Charlotte Forten Grimke, an African American born into freedom who volunteered to teach emancipated slaves as the Civil War raged around her. Read the eyewitness account of the Wounded Knee massacre through the eyes of teacher Elaine Goodale Eastman, and educator Mary Tsukamoto, imprisoned in a WWII Japanese internment camp. Read about Mississippi Freedom Summer teacher Sandra Adickes who, together with her students, defied Jim Crow laws to integrate the Hattiesburg Public Library. Marvel at the pioneering work of Anne Sullivan Macy, the teacher of Helen Keller, the efforts of teacher Clara Comstock to find homes for thousands of Orphan Train riders, and the dedication of Jaime Escalante, the East LA educator who proved to that inner city Latino youths could successfully meet the demands of a rigorous curriculum.
In Chalkboard Heroes, you’ll find about dedicated educators who were heroes both inside and outside of the classroom, including WWI veteran Henry Alvin Cameron and Civil War veteran Francis Wayland Parker. Learn about teachers who were social reformers such as Dolores Huerta, Civil Rights activist Robert Parris Moses, suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt, and Native American rights advocate Zitkala-Sa, all of whom put themselves at risk to fight for improved conditions for disenfranchised citizens. Discover brave pioneers who took great risks to blaze a trail for others to follow such as Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher in space; Willa Brown Chappell, the aviatrix who taught Tuskegee airmen to fly; Etta Schureman Jones, the Alaskan teacher who was interned in a POW camp in Japan during WWII; and Olive Mann Isbell, who established the first English school in California while the Mexican american War raged around her.
All these remarkable stories and more can be shared with someone you know this year on Teacher Appreciation Week!
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Illinois teacher Irene Hunt became an acclaimed author
Illinois teacher Irene Hunt became an acclaimed author. Photo credit: Bookologymagazine.com
Many teachers are familiar with the historical novels of Irene Hunt: Across Five Aprils, Up a Road Slowly, and The Lottery Rose, for example. But did you know that she was also a distinguished teacher?
Irene was born on May 18, 1907, in Pontiac, Illinois. As a young girl, she spent a great deal of time with her grandfather, who spent countless hours recounting stories of his childhood during the Civil War. These stories eventually became the basis of her historical novels.
Irene earned her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana, in 1939, and her Master’s degree from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, in 1946. She taught English and French in public schools in Oak Park, Illinois, from 1930 to 1945. For the next four years she taught psychology at the University of South Dakota, Vermillion. Then she returned to teaching in public schools in Cicero, Illinois, from 1950 to 1969, when she retired to write full time.
Irene’s first book, and her signature work, was Across Five Aprils, published in 1964, when she was 57 years old. The volume garnered high critical acclaim, winning the Follett Award and being named the sole Newbery honor book of 1965 by the American Library Association. It was followed by Up a Road Slowly, published in 1966, which received the Newbery Medal, among other honors.
Irene was a pro at using historical novels in the classroom. She once said, “While teaching social studies to junior high school students, I felt that teaching history through literature was a happier, more effective process.”
Irene Hunt passed away on Mary 18, 2001. It was her 94th birthday. To read more about her, see this biography at Bookology.
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Nebraska music educator Anna Sake earns prestigious honors
Music educator Anna Sake of Palmer, Nebraska, has been honored as a 2024-2025 recipient of a Performing Arts Educator Award by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). Photo credit; Anna Sake
There are many exceptional educators working with young people in schools throughout the nation. One of them is Anna Sake, a music educator from Nebraska. She has been honored as a 2024-2025 recipient of a prestigious Performing Arts Educator Award by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).
Anna is the K-12 Music Director at Palmer Public Schools, a rural district located in the town of Palmer in the southern central region of Nebraska. The courses she teaches include K-6 general music, 5th and 6th beginning band, junior high band and choir, and high school band and choir. She is well-known for her innovative teaching and her community engagement. She has led her students to achieve superior ratings in district and regional festivals, and her service in state organizations and her efforts to mentor young educators underscore her dedication to fostering a lifelong love of music in her students, say NFHS officials.
Anna, a Nebraska native, earned her Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Nebraska’s Wayne State College in 2011. She earned her Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Wayne State College in 2019. She hold minors in Trumpet, Percussion, and Voice.
The National Federation of State High School Associations, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, is the national leader and advocate for high school athletics as well as fine and performing arts programs. The organization serves 19,500 high schools and more than 12 million young people in all 50 states and Washington, DC. Each year, the NFHS honors one nominee in each state, honoring music educators that exemplify significant contributions to the music education in the areas of organization, service, and professionalism.
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VA teacher Aline Black Hicks launched an important Civil Rights case
Virginia science teacher Aline Black Hicks launched an important Civil Rights case. Photo credit: Black Then
Often times teachers are at the forefront of movements that benefit entire groups of people in our society. One of these teachers was educator Aline Black Hicks, a high school science teacher who launched an important civil rights court case about equal pay.
Aline was born in Norfolk, Virginia, on March 23, 1906. As a young girl, she attended Booker T. Washington High School in her home town. After her graduation, she earned her Bachelor’s degree from Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute. The school is known today as Virginia State University. Aline earned her Master’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania in 1935.
The neophyte educator inaugurated her career as a teacher when she accepted a position at her alma mater, Booker T. Washington, in 1924. She taught science and chemistry. As an African American, she earned only two-thirds the salary earned by a white teacher doing the same job. Although it was later determined to be a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, this was a common practice in that time.
In 1939, Aline filed a lawsuit against the Norfolk School Board, asking that they base teachers’ salaries on experience and education rather than race. She had the backing of the Norfolk Teachers Association, the Virginia State Teachers Association, and the NAACP. One of her attorneys was Thurgood Marshall, who later became an Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court. Unfortunately, Aline was fired in retaliation for her lawsuit. Once she was no longer employed by the school district, her case was dismissed. However, her lawyers took the case forward with another local teacher, Melvin O. Alston. Eventually the case went all the way to tour nation’s highest court, where the issue was eventually decided in favor of the African American plaintiffs.
In 1941, the Norfolk School board rehired Aline to teach at the school where she had formerly worked. From 1970 to 1973, she worked at Jacox Junior High School as an Instructional Development Specialist until she retired in 1973.
In 2008, Aline was named a Notable African Americans in Virginia History by the Library of Virginia. In 1971, she garnered the Norfolk “Backbone Award” by the Education Association for her contribution to financial, educational and social equality.
This Chalkboard Champion passed away in Norfolk on August 22, 1974. To read more about her, consult this article in Encyclopedia Virginia.
