Category Archives: Education

Terry Lee Marzell receives Certificate of Recognition from California State Legislature

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Author Terry Lee Marzell received a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Legislature on May 9, 2019. The certificate, which was presented to her by Assemblyman Phillip Chen (District 55), was to honor Terry for her leadership and service. “We appreciate the vital role you play in the 55th Assembly District,” reads the certificate. “Thank you for your dedicated commitment and great contributions to our community.”

Terry earned the honor, in part, for her work towards recognizing and celebrating great teachers through her published books, her website, her daily blog, and her public speaking events. Terry is, herself, a retired teacher with a total of 36 years in the classroom. She continues to serve her profession as the Co-President of Division 80 of the California Retired Teachers Association, and she edits their monthly newsletter. She has served on the organization’s Scholarship Committee, assisting with fundraising events, conducting interviews for prospective scholarship winners, and presenting the awards. She has also returned to her former school of employment each year to conduct exit interviews for graduating seniors. In March, 2019, Terry was inducted into the Kappa Beta Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, an organization that promotes the professional and personal growth of women educators and excellence in education.

In addition, Terry serves as an adult literacy tutor at her community library, and she has done volunteer work at her local no-kill pet shelter. Terry is an active member of an area political club, and she has worked with the County of San Bernardino to assist with the running of her neighborhood’s polling place.

“I was really surprised to receive this honor,” says Terry. “And I am very grateful to have my work on recognizing and celebrating great teachers recognized.”

Music educator and award-winning fiddler Colyn Fischer

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Many talented musicians also serve as exemplary music educators. This is true of Colyn Fischer, an award-winning violinist from Pennsylvania who now works as a middle school music teacher in northern California.

Colyn was born in 1977 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He began to play the violin when he was only three years old. Since the age of five, he has concentrated on the specialty of Scottish fiddling. While just a teenage, Colyn studied under a number of notable American Scottish fiddlers, including John Turner and Bonnie Rideout, and several celebrated fiddlers from Scotland, including Ian Powie and Alasdair Hardy.

Following his graduation from Penn-Trafford High School in Harrison City, Pennsylvania, Colyn enrolled at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. There he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance in violin from Wheaton College in 1999. He completed the requirements for his teaching credential at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, in 2005.

In 1993, Colyn garnered the first-place title in the American National Scottish Fiddling Championship, Junior Division. In 2005 he won in the open category in Texas, a title which he captured again in 2006 in Ohio.

Colyn first taught music in grades three through eight in the Silver Valley Unified School District in California’s San Bernardino County. He worked there from 2006-2009. Currently, Colyn teaches orchestra at Central Middle School in the San Carlos School District located in San Francisco, California. He also teaches the annual Jink and Diddle School of Scottish Fiddling, and gives private violin and fiddle lessons.

To view Colyn playing Scottish tunes, watch the You Tube video above.

Nebraska’s 2018 Teacher of the Year: Sydney Jensen

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Sydney Jensen

Nebraska’s 2018 Teacher of the Year is Sydney Jensen, a 9th grade Language Arts teacher from Lincoln, Nebraska.

Nebraska named Sydney Jensen of Lincoln as their 2018 Teacher of the Year. Sydney has taught 9th grade Language Arts at Lincoln High School since 2014.

Sydney is a native of Eatonton, Georgia. She credits her grandparents, who are both public school teachers, for the inspiration for her decision to become an educator. She also credited her own experience attending public schools. “I’m a product of public education,” she says. “I knew I wanted to be a public school teacher because I had so many great teachers who helped me,” she continues. She inaugurated her teaching career in 2013 as a seventh and eighth grade English teacher at Dawes Middle School. She has taught a total of six years.

In addition to her classroom experience, this inspirational educator is an instructional coach and certified Trainer of Trainers for the Classroom Instruction that Works model. She is also an Instructional Team Leader for the English Professional Learning Community.

For her work in education, Sydney has won several awards. She garnered a Golden Telephone Award from Lincoln High. She also earned the 2018 Lincoln Public Schools Inspire Educator Award.

“My message to all teachers is that we have to teach courageously for the sake of our students,” Sydney declares. “We absolutely must push ourselves to try new strategies, no matter how far outside of our comfort zones. This is the same message we want for our students – live and learn courageously,” she concludes.

Sydney earned her Bachelor’s degree in English Education from the University of Georgia in 2013, and she earned her Master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Doane University in Nebraska.