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.

Iowa’s Grace Allen Jones: She worked to educate to Black youth

Posted on by

Iowa’s Grace Allen Jones championed greater educational opportunities for Black students in her home state, Missouri, and Mississippi. Photo credit: Public Domain.

During Black History Month, we shine a spotlight on numerous African American educators. Today, we spotlight Grace Allen Jones, a teacher from Iowa who worked tirelessly to provide educational opportunities for African American youth in her home state, in Missouri, and in Mississippi.

Grace was born on January 7, 1876, in Keokuk, Iowa. Unlike many African Americans of her day, her parents were educated and financially well-off. As a young girl, Grace attended Burlington High School in Burlington, Iowa. There she earned her diploma in 1891. Following high school, she attended Burlington Normal School from 1894 to 1895.

After she earned her college degree, Grace spent three years in Missouri teaching at schools in Bethel and Slater. In 1902, she returned to Iowa and founded a vocational school for African American students. She named the school the Grace M. Allen Industrial School for Colored Youth.

When the school closed in 1906, Grace enrolled in public speaking courses a the Chicago Conservatory of Music. Once she completed her courses in Chicago, Grace worked as a fundraiser and public speaker, advocating for better educational opportunities for all the students in her community.

After her marriage to fellow-educator Laurence Jones, Grace accepted a teaching position at Piney Woods Country Life School in Rankin County, Mississippi. At this school, students were offered courses in agriculture, carpentry, dairy farming, and construction. To help support the school, Grace organized and led several student choir groups on fundraising tours across the South, the Midwest, and the East. The schools’ Five Blind Boys of Mississippi, the Cotton Blossom Singers, and the International Sweethearts of Rhythm were just three of several choral groups that Grace organized.

In addition to her classroom and fundraising responsibilities, Grace actively participated in clubs meant to advance the status of women and, more specifically, women of color. Those groups also worked to improve child care, to teach African American history, to start libraries for African American children, and to provide resources so that physically handicapped African American children could learn. In addition, she helped start an American Red Cross organization for African Americans, and she served as President of the Mississippi State Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs from 1920 to 1924. Later she served as a statistician for the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs in 1925.

Sadly, this Chalkboard Champion passed away of complications from pneumonia on March 2, 1928, in Piney Woods. She was only 52 years old. To read more about Grace Allen Jones, see this article published about her by Piney Woods School.

Fannie Coppin: Teacher, principal, community activist, columnist, and missionary

Posted on by

Fannie Coppin, born into slavery, eventually became a highly successful teacher, principal, community activist, columnist, and missionary. Photo credit: Public Domain

This February, during Black History Month, we are honoring exemplary African American educators in our nation’s history. Today, we shine a spotlight on Fanny Coppin, an outstanding educator from Washington, DC.

Fanny was born on October 15, 1837, the daughter of slaves. When she was 12 years old, her aunt purchased her freedom for $125. She moved to Newport, Rhode Island, where she worked as a servant for the author George Henry Calvert. During these years, she used some of her earnings to hire a private tutor to teach her for three hours each week.

In 1860, the same year the Civil War erupted, Fanny enrolled at Oberlin College in Ohio. Oberlin was the first college in the United States to accept both Black and female students. At first, Fanny enrolled in the “ladies’ course,” but the next year, she switched to the more rigorous “gentlemen’s course.” As the Civil War years came to an end, Fanny founded a night school in Oberlin where she educated newly-freed enslaved people.

Once she earned her degree in 1865, this enterprising young educator accepted a position as a high school teacher at the Institute for Colored Youth (ICY) in Philadelphia. There she taught courses in Greek, Latin, and mathematics. Within a year she was promoted to principal of the Ladies Department. By 1869 Fanny had become principal of the entire institute, making her the first African American woman to wear the title of school principal. She held this position until 1906. In all, she invested 37 years of her life at the school.

In addition to her work at ICY, Fanny founded homes for working and poor women. She also published columns defending the rights of women and African Americans in local Philadelphia newspapers. Throughout her life, she was politically active and frequently spoke at political rallies.

In 1881 Fanny married the Rev. Levi Jenkins Coppin, and in 1902 the couple traveled to South Africa where they founded the Bethel Institute, a missionary school which emphasized self-help programs.

Fannie Coppin passed away on January 21, 1913, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was 76 years old. In 1926, a teacher training school in Baltimore, Maryland, was named the Fanny Jackson Coppin Normal School in her memory. Today, this school is known as Coppin State University.

Elem teacher Laurie Basloe garners NYC Big Apple Award

Posted on by

Elementary school teacher Laurie Basloe has earned a 2024-2025 Big Apple Award from the New York City Department of Eduction. Photo credit: Laurie Basloe

It is always exciting for me to introduce you to an outstanding educator who has gained recognition for the work they do in a public school classroom. One of these is Laurie Basloe, an elementary school teacher who has garnered a 2024-2025 Big Apple Award from the New York City Department of Education.

The Big Apple Awards recognize and celebrate New York City teachers who inspire students to be their best selves; who model equitable learning with high expectations for the diverse and dynamic needs of all students; who affirm students’ identities; and who enrich their school communities by partnering with families, community members, and community-based organizations. To learn more, click on this link to Big Apple Awards.

Laurie teaches fifth graders at PS 321 (William Penn Elementary School} in Brooklyn. She has taught there since 2013. Before her assignment at PS 321, she taught fifth grade at PS 119 for six years, and before that she taught fourth grade for two years at PS 72.

This remarkable educator has a reputation for being an active leader in her school community. “One of the things I love most about being a teacher is the ability to inspire children through many different experiences,” confesses Laurie. To meet the needs of diversity in her student population, she incorporates the arts—particularly dance, as that is her specialty—and cultural experiences in her curriculum. In addition to the work she does with fifth graders, she serves on the campus Green & Healthy Committee and on the Sunshine Committee.

Originally, Laurie planned to be a professional dancer, even though she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 7. She achieved her dream of becoming a professional dancer when she was selected to perform with the Richmond Ballet in Richmond, Virginia, until injuries halted her dance career. During three years with the ballet’s outreach program in inner-city schools, Laurie began to seriously consider a transition from arts to education. “I discovered I had this passion for teaching kids,” she recalled.

Laurie earned her Bachelor’s degree in Dance from Indiana University, Bloomington, in 2001. She earned her Master’s degree in Elementary Education from Brooklyn College in 2006.

Lavinia Norman: One of the founders of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority

Posted on by

World Languages educator Lavinia Norman of West Virginia was one of the original founders of the prestigious Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, Photo credit: Public Domain

Many dedicated educators have devoted their entire professional lives to the classroom. One such educator is Lavinia Norman, a high school World Languages teacher from West Virginia who is also known as one of the original founders of the prestigious Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

Lavinia was born on December 14, 1882, in Montgomery, Fayette County, West Virginia. She was the eighth of sixteen children in the family of Thomas and Virginia Norman. Young Lavinia spent her early years in elementary schools in West Virginia, but when her father found employment with the US Postal Service, the family moved to Washington, DC.

In 1901, Lavinia enrolled in preparatory school at Howard University, a traditionally Black college located in our nation’s capital. At the time, there were very few women enrolled at Howard. While at Howard, Lavinia became one of the 16 original founding members of the prestigious Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. The young scholar graduated cum laude in 1905 with a degree in English and French. Later, she returned to college to earn a second Bachelor’s degree from West Virginia State College, another historically Black university located in Charleston, West Virginia, in 1934.

After her graduation, Lavinia accepted a position as a teacher at Douglass High School in Huntington, West Virginia, where she worked her entire professional career. During her tenure, she taught English, French, and Latin. She also served as her high school’s drama coach and the adviser of the school newspaper. In 1950, this Chalkboard Champion retired after a distinguished career of 40 years in education. 

Lavinia passed away in Washington, DC, on January 22, 1983, at the age of 100. To learn more about this amazing educator, click on this link, Virginia Commonwealth University, or the website for Alpha Kappa Alpha.