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.

Legendary girls’ basketball coach and PE teacher Dorothy Gaters garners many honors

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Girls’ basketball coach and physical education teacher Dorothy Gaters is legendary in Chicago, Illinois. Photo credit: Chicago History Museum

As part of our celebration of Black History Month, we pay homage to Dorothy Gaters, a legendary girls’ basketball coach and physical education teacher from Illinois. In fact, it has been said that you can’t talk about the history of high school basketball in Illinois without including legendary Coach Gaters in the discussion.

Dorothy taught and coached at her alma mater, John Marshall Metropolitan High School, in Chicago, Illinois. Her career began there at 1976, and spanned 45 years. She concluded her career with 1,153 wins and ten Illinois High School Association state titles. In addition, she served as an Assistant Coach at the US Olympic Festival in 1986, helping the South win a gold medal. After such a long and distinguished career, she retired in 2021, but she still works as the Athletic Director at Marshall High.

Dorothy fondly remembered her days as a student at Marshall fondly, having graduated from there in 1964. “There were 5,000 students here then; now, there are only 200,” she recalls. “There was no girls’ basketball team then, which was years before Title IX, which bans discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance,” she continued. “I didn’t have any real role models,” Dorothy said. “I just watched basketball on TV, but we had a very successful boys team, even when I attended.” And that love of basketball grew. After her graduation from high school, Dorothy earned her Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education from DePaul University. “When I graduated from college, they asked me to come back here to teach and, shortly after that, there were intramurals—and that’s when I started to learn about the game,” she explains.

For her work as a coach, Dorothy has garnered many honors. She was selected as Coach of the Year by the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association seven times, and she was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000 and the National High School Hall of Fame in 2018. She was also named a recipient of the National Student-Athlete Day Giant Steps Award in 1998. Furthermore, the gymnasium at Marshall High has been named in her honor.

Dorothy Gaters: A true Chalkboard Champion.

Pioneer teacher Laura Alming became the first woman Superintendent of Public Instruction for North Dakota

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Teacher Laura Eisenhuth Alming became the  first woman Superintendent of Public Instruction for the state of North Dakota. Photo credit: Public Domain

Many talented classroom teachers also find success as politicians. One of these is Laura Eisenhuth Alming, a 19th century educator who was elected Superintendent of Public Instruction for the state of North Dakota.

Laura was born on May 29, 1859, in Blenheim, Ontario, Canada. She was just a toddler when her family moved to DeWitt, Iowa. As a young woman, she completed college courses and then accepted a teaching position at DeWitt High School.

The young educator first traveled to Dakota Territory in the summer of 1885. There she staked a claim on 160 acres of land near the town of New Rockford. She continued to live and teach in Iowa for the next two years, returning to her Dakota homestead for the summers. In 1882, the pioneer teacher married Willis Eisenhuth, a fellow teacher who had moved from Pennsylvania to Carrington, North Dakota. In Dakota he established and operated a drugstore.

After her marriage, Laura, already a veteran educator with 11 years of experience under her belt, accepted a position as a temporary teacher in Carrington. There she taught 80 students in a one-room schoolhouse. The next year she was re-hired, but fortunately the townspeople acquired an assistant to help with instructional activities.

Carrington’s citizens were so impressed with Laura’s work in the classroom that they elected her Superintendent of Schools for North Dakota’s Foster County in 1889. During the years she held this office, the innovative educator organized and oversaw a series of teacher-training institutes to improve public school instruction.

In 1892, Laura was elected her state’s Superintendent of Public Instruction. In this period of history, women in the United States enjoyed very few voting privileges. In North Dakota, women could vote only on school issues. In her position as Superintendent, Laura continued to emphasize professional development. She also championed improved hygiene in schools and supported the introduction of fencing into the curriculum.

When Laura’s husband became very ill, Laura resigned from her office to focus on helping him recuperate. She found employment as a teacher and an Assistant Principal of Carrington High School. Her husband passed away in 1902. Five years later, Laura married Ludwig Alming, and the newlyweds moved to Jacksonville, Oregon. Laura lived the rest of her life there.

This amazing Chalkboard Champion passed away on September 30, 1937, in Medford, Oregon. She is interred in Siskiyou Memorial Park.

To read more about Laura Eisenhuth Alming, see this article printed in the Bismarck Tribune.

NJ elementary teacher Maureen Moran honored by VFW

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Elementary school teacher Maureen Moran has been named a 2025 New Jersey State Teacher of the Year by the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Photo credit: Cedar Hill Elementary School

Each year, the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) in the state of New Jersey honors three outstanding educators with their Teacher of the Year award. This honor recognizes three exceptional teachers for their outstanding commitment to teaching citizenship and patriotism to their students.

Each year, one teacher at the elementary, one at the junior high, and one at the high school level are selected. In making those selections, the organizations choose teachers whose classroom curriculum focuses on citizenship topics, including civic responsibility, patriotism, flag etiquette, and for providing their students with opportunities to honor veterans.

This year, elementary school teacher Maureen Moran has been chosen as the Elementary VFW Teacher of the Year. Maureen teaches second grade at Cedar Hill Elementary School, one of five elementary schools in Montville Township, New Jersey

In addition to her classroom work, Maureen is part of her school’s Character Education Program, which collects and assembles personal care donations from each class at the school. This year the committee assembled 57 complete Care Kits, which include shave, dental and shower items, and an additional 84 partial Care Kits, as well as collecting family size donations and extra supplies. The items are them distributed to needy individuals

In addition, Maureen is one of the organizers of her campus Veterans Day event. “Maureen Moran instills in her students, and students throughout the school, a sense of national pride and civic responsibility, combined with her unwavering commitment to character education,” asserts Ken Hanzi, Commander of VFW Post 5481. “Maureen has the exceptional ability to connect the values of citizenship and patriotism to her everyday teaching.”

To learn more about the VFW, click on this link.

 

Educator, Army veteran, and local politician Norton Younglove

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Educator, US veteran, and local politician Norton Younglove.of California. Photo credit: Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Many exemplary educators have served their county in the military and their community in public office. One of these is Norton Younglove, a teacher from California, Army veteran, and former local civil servant.

Norton was born in Riverside, California, on October 8, 1929. After he graduated from Riverside High School in 1947, he earned his Bachelor’s degree from Williamette University in Salem, Oregon. He married his wife, Ardith, and the couple returned to Riverside, where Norton worked in his father’s business, Home Oil Company.

During the Korean Conflict, Norton became a member of the US Army Signal Corps and served in Korea. Once he completed his stint in the Army, Norton earned his teaching credentials and accepted a position at first Sierra Junior High School and then at Ramona High School, where he taught courses in US Government.

It was at this point in his life that Norton decided to become involved in local politics. He served on the Riverside City Council. He also served as a County Supervisor for six consecutive terms, retiring from the Board in 1994. In addition, he served as a member of the South Coast Air Quality Management District, and earned a reputation as a fighter who adamantly opposed air pollution. He was also instrumental in establishing a final resting place for many veterans at the Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside.

Throughout his life Norton was an accomplished sailor, winning the Snipes West Coast championship in his youth, and in the 1960s, he captured the title of the Labor Day Regatta with his three sons serving as his crew.

Norton passed away in Riverside, California, on January 17, 2025. He was 95 years old. To honor his legacy, the Norton Younglove Reserve in Beaumont, the Norton Younglove Community Center in Highgrove, and the Norton Younglove Senior Center in Calimesa—all located in Southern California—have been dedicated to his work.

NEA President Becky Pringle issues statement about President Trump’s federal budget-cutting policies

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Since President Donald Trump has announced his intention to impose deep cuts in federal spending to public education—and has even declared his intention to close down the United States Department of Education—many public school teachers have been worrying about how these actions will possibly impact them and students. In response,  educator Becky Pringle, President of the National Education Association, spoke out to ABC News on Feb. 15, 2025.

“What the Trump Administration has done through executive orders or through rhetoric is to diminish educators in a way that they are not in any way respecting their right and professional authority,” Pringle declared. “They are not listening to them about what they know their students need to learn.”

This Chalkboard Champion has long been advocating for smaller classroom sizes and individualized attention, as well as increased resources for students with disabilities and students from low-income families. She says these are just some student needs that are not being met. And, Pringle said, even though all over the country parents and educators have been working for the improvements, the Trump Administration is not making those needs a priority.

Furthermore, Pringle said that recent Trump moves “will have an immediate and devastating impact on millions. Students will lose access to learning opportunities if Head Start programs are shuttered. Parents will be cut off from childcare services they depend on so they can go to work and provide for their families. Students will go hungry if school meals are taken away. And the dream of higher education will be further out of reach as institutional aid for programs is affected. These are the real people impacted.”

Pringle knows exactly what she’s talking about. She has more than three decades of experience as a middle school science teacher. And the organization she leads, the National Education Association (NEA) represents more than 3 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, student teachers, healthcare workers, and public employees. To learn more about the NEA, click on this link: www.nea.org