Take a look at this short screencast where author Terry Lee Marzell discusses the contents of her book, Chalkboard Champions, published in 2012. Specifically, she mentions teachers Jaime Escalante, featured in the movie Stand and Deliver, and Annie Sullivan, who worked with Helen Keller, a deaf and blind child from Alabama. Enjoy the screencast.
Category Archives: Books
Chalkboard Champion Emma Hart Willard advocates for girls’ education
Chalkboard champion, educator, and advocate of education for women Emma Hart Willard
One of the most influential educators in American history is Chalkboard Champion Emma Hart Willard, a teacher and women’s rights advocate from New England. In a time when most women were restricted to the role of homemakers, Emma advanced the cause of making higher education available for girls.
Emma was born on Feb. 23, 1787, in Berlin, Connecticut. Even at a young age, her intelligence was evident. Even though she was a female, her father nurtured her intellectual development. By the time she was 17 years old, Emma was teaching at the academy where she had been a student. By the time she was 19 she was the principal of the school.
In 1809, Emma married Dr. John Hart, and the couple had one son together. After her marriage, Emma and her family moved to Vermont. There she opened her own boarding school for girls. She taught her young students courses in science, mathematics, philosophy, geography, and history. The experience put her in a fine position to advocate for an institution of higher learning for female students.
In 1821, Emma persuaded the leadership of Troy, New York, to sponsor the founding of an institution of higher learning for girls. The school became known as the Troy Female Seminary, the first higher education institution for women in the country. The school was an immediate success, and upper class families began to send their daughters to Troy. Her example inspired other private institutions to open their doors to girls. Emma served as the principal of Troy Female Seminary until 1838. By that time, hundreds of graduates of the school—many of them teachers—had been shaped by her philosophy.
In addition to paving the way for advanced educational opportunities for girls in New York, Emma traveled widely throughout the country and in Europe, where she advocated more schools of higher learning be established. She founded an all-girls school in similar to the Troy School in Athens, Greece. She also wrote textbooks for American history and geography. In addition, she published a volume of poetry.
This Chalkboard Champion passed away on April 15, 1870, in Troy, New York. She is interred in Oakwood Cemetery in Troy. In 1905, this amazing educator was inducted into the Hall of Fame for Great Americans in Bronx, New York. She was also inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2013. The school that Emma Hart Willard founded in Troy still exists today, although it is now known as the Emma Willard School.
To read more about Emma Hart Willard, click on this link to Encyclopedia Britanica.
Share this:
We Rode the Orphan Trains by Andrea Warren
Have you ever heard anything about America’s orphan trains? Not many have, but orphan trains are a fascinating solution to a problem of homeless children.
During the early years of the 20th century, there were literally thousands of homeless children roaming aimlessly on the streets of New York City. The Children’s Aid Society (CAS), an organization which still exists to benefit children today, developed a method for finding loving and wholesome homes for many of these children. The CAS organized small groups of children to be transported to states in the Midwest and the West. These children were placed in foster homes or adoptive homes on farms and in rural communities. To care for the children, the CAS recruited teachers to escort them, conduct background checks on the prospective caretakers, and make periodic checks on the children’s progress.
Andrea Warren has documented the phenomena of the Orphan Trains very diligently in her book, We Rode the Orphan Trains, available through amazon.com. You can also read a chapter about one of the CAS teachers, Clara Comstock, in my first book, Chalkboard Champions.
Share this:
Marzell’s books added to collections of prestigious university libraries
Books written by retired educator and author Terry Lee Marzell added to libraries of prestigious libraries.
I always get excited when I learn that one of my books has been added to the collection of a prestigious university library. A search of WorldCat reveals that both of my books have been added to the collections of prestigious university libraries.
My first book, Chalkboard Champions (2012), part of the collection of the libraries at the University of Arizona, Tucson; University of Hawaii at Manoa in Honolulu, Hawaii; the City University of New York in New York, New York; and Berea College in Berea, Kentucky. The volume is also part of the collection of the libraries of Winona State University in Winona, Minnesota; the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi; and the State University of New York in Oswego, New York. The book is also available at Hunter College in New York, New York; Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey; Salem State University in Salem, Massachusetts; and the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. In addition, it is also part of the collection of the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.
Chalkboard Heroes (2015) has been added to the collections of the Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles, California; Chadron State University in Chadron, Nebraska; the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi; and the University of Chicago Library in Chicago, Illinois. The volume can also be found in the Alaska State Library in Juneau, Alaska; Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana; and Central Connecticut State Library in New Britain, Connecticut.
Many thanks to all these university libraries for honoring my work!
Share this:
Suggested reading: Beyond the Blackboard, the story of teacher Stacey Bess
If you’re looking for some suggestions for summer reading, I’d like to recommend you read the book Beyond the Blackboard. This slender volume is the inspirational story of teacher Stacey Bess of Salt Lake City, Utah.
As a first-year teacher, Stacey landed in a classroom set up in a storage shed in a local homeless shelter. The facility was literally referred to as the School With No Name. As you can imagine, her students wrestled with a variety of issues, including unstable living arrangements, domestic abuse, poverty, a transient lifestyle, and parents who abused alcohol and drug. Not the most desirable circumstances for learning. But this remarkable teacher created a safe and loving classroom environment for her kids—on a shoestring, no less. She went to battle with the local school board for a more suitable teaching space and better resources. And, oh, yeah, she raised her own family and defeated cancer at the same time.
You can read the story of the dynamic Stacey Bess in Beyond the Blackboard, available through amazon.com.
