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.

Elise Boutin named Louisiana’s 2025 State Teacher of the Year

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High school English teacher Elise Boutin of Louisiana has been named her state’s 2025 Teacher of the Year. Photo credit: The Acadiana Advocate

It is always my pleasure to share the news that an exceptional educator has received recognition for their work with young people in America’s public classrooms. Today, I am pleased to announce that Elise Boutin, an English teacher from Louisiana, has been named her state’s 2025 Teacher of the Year.

Elise teaches seniors at Rayne High School in Acadia Parish, Louisiana. She also serves as the school’s Interact Club Advisor and the Cross Country coach. In a career that spans 14 years, she has spent the last 10 of them at Rayne. Prior to her service at the high school, she taught at the junior high school level.

As part of her work at Rayne, Elise resurrected the Rayne, Alive! program, a student-produced YouTube channel. The program has become an important part of the school’s culture. While producing this program, Elise’s students have worked with crews from news stations in Lafayette, and they have even met celebrities and enlisted their aid in creating introductions for episodes of the show. 

Elise says the secret of her success in the classroom is to be real. “I’m authentically myself, and then I give permission for them to be themselves, and I feel like that’s kind of the most unique thing about me,” Elise says. “I really do encourage my students to find their voice and be themselves and not fit a mold of any kind.”

In addition to her Teacher of the Year honors, Elise has been named this year’s recipient of the Norma Hunt Super Bowl Champion of Education award, which includes two tickets to this year’s Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans.

Elise earned her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2009. She earned her Master’s degree in Teaching from McNeese State University in 2013. In addition, she is working on a graduate certificate in professional writing at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette.
 

Eulalia Bourne: She taught in rural Arizona’s mining camps and Indian reservations

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Eulalia Bourne was a plucky educator who taught elementary school in rural areas, mining camps, and Indian reservations throughout Arizona during some of our country’s most challenging periods. Photo credit: Arizona History

American history is full of colorful individuals who made significant contributions to the settlement and development of the West. One such individual is teacher Eulalia Bourne. This remarkable educator, whose career spanned more than four decades, taught elementary school in rural areas, mining camps, and Indian reservations throughout Arizona during some of our country’s most challenging periods: World War I, the Depression, and World War II. This women’s libber was ahead of her time, becoming one of the very few women in her day to own and run her own cattle ranch.

Eulalia thought outside the box in many ways. Every year on the first day of school she would wear a new dress, usually blue to complement her eye color. Every day after that, she wore jeans, Western-style shirts, cowboy boots, and Stetson hats to class. She was once fired for dancing the one-step, a new jazz dance, at a birthday party some of her students attended, because the clerk of the board considered the dance indecent! She even learned to speak Spanish fluently and, when confronted with non-English-speaking students, taught her classes in Spanish, even though it was against the law to do so.

Eulalia is probably best known for producing a little classroom newspaper entitled Little Cowpunchers which featured student writings, drawings, and news stories about classroom events. Today, these little newspapers are recognized as important historical documents of Southern Arizona ranching communities from 1932 to 1943. Additionally, Eulalia published three critically-acclaimed books about her teaching and ranching experiences: Ranch Schoolteacher, Nine Months is a Year at Baboquivari School, and Woman in Levi’s. These volumes, although now out of print, can sometimes be purchased at used book stores and sometimes can be found at online sites featuring royalty-free works. The read is well-worth the search, particularly for those interested in Arizona history.

You can read about Eulalia’s intriguing life in a book entitled Skirting Traditions, published by  Arizona Press Women. You can also find a chapter about her in my first book, Chalkboard Champions.

Carter Godwin Woodson: The teacher who established Black History Month

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Carter Godwin Woodson was an American school teacher who created Black History Month, an annual celebration of the many outstanding contributions African Americans have made to our country. Photo credit: Public Domain

This February, socially conscious teachers all over the United States are launching their classes into Black History Month, an annual celebration of the many outstanding contributions African Americans have made to our country. But did you know that Black History Month, itself, was the brainchild of a brilliant American teacher?

Educator Carter Godwin Woodson is credited with organizing and advocating annual Black History Month celebrations in American schools. He is also recognized as the first African American born of enslaved parents to earn a PhD in History. Admittedly, these are noteworthy accomplishments. But there is so much more to this brilliant man’s life story than is usually publicized.

Did you know that, as a youngster, Carter was forced to work on the family farm rather than attend school? Nevertheless, he taught himself to read using the Bible and local newspapers. He didn’t finish high school until he was 20 years old. Did you know that Carter once worked as a coal miner in Fayette County, West Virginia, and then later went back there to teach school to the children of Black coal miners, serving as a model for using education to get out of the mines? Did you know that Carter taught school in the Philippines, and then became the supervisor of schools, which included duties as a trainer of teachers, there? And did you know that he was one of the first to study African American history, to collect data, oral histories, and documents, and to publish his findings in a scholarly magazine he published, The Journal of Negro History? 

To read more about this fascinating historical figure, check out my book, Chalkboard Champions.

FL science teacher Lindsey Laurino garners recognition

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Science educator Lindsey Laurino of Port St. Lucie in Florida has earned recognition from her district and from the state Department of Education for her outstanding work in the classroom. Photo credit;  St. Lucie Education Foundation, Inc.

I always enjoy sharing news that an excellent educator has earned recognition for their work in the classroom. Here is an outstanding educator who teaches in Florida: Lindsey Laurino of the St, Lucie Public Schools District located in Port St. Lucie, Florida. She has garnered the 2024 Ron Nieto Digital Educator Award from the Florida State Department of Education. The Ron Nieto Digital Educator award recognizes extraordinary educators who use digital components to enhance student achievement in the classroom.

In addition to this honor, Lindsey has been named the 2025 District Teacher of the Year for St. Lucie County. With these awards comes an additional title: She has been named an honorary member of the Education Foundation Board of Directors

Lindsey teaches courses in Gifted Science to middle school students in grades six through eight at St. Lucie West K-8 school. She also serves her school as the STEM Fair co-ordinator. (STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.) Among her colleagues, Lindsey has a reputation for excelling in using technology in the classroom to positively impact her students’ outcomes.

When asked about her teaching philosophy, Lindsey responded, “Never forget your love for learning, and always show your students the beauty of education.”

Lindsey’s educational journey began at Indian River State College, and continued at Auburn University and Florida Atlantic University.