Tag Archives: English Teachers

Novelist and former teacher Michele Young-Stone

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Novelist Michele Young-Stone once taught high school and middle school English in Virginia. Photo credit: Michele Young-Stone.

Talented English teachers often make excellent creative writers. This is true of Michele Young-Stone, a teacher and successful novelist from the state of Virginia. To date, Michele has published three novels.

Michele was born in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1971, although she was raised in Chester. At the age of 17 she moved to Richmond, Virginia, where she attended Denmark University. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in English there in 1992. In 1994, she studied at Africa University, where she earned her Master’s degree in Teaching Secondary English.

Michele taught high school and middle school English in Virginia’s Nottoway and Henrico counties. In 2002, when she was 30 years old, she resigned from her teaching position and enrolled at Virginia Commonwealth University as a full-time student to study creative writing. There she earned her Master’s degree in Fine Arts.

Michele published her first book, The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors, in 2010. Her second book, Above Us Only Sky, was published in 2015. Her third book, Lost in the Beehive, published in 2018, enjoyed success as an O Magazine 2018 Book Pick.

Today Michele teaches an advanced fiction writing workshop through a local organization known as the Muse Writers Center in Norfolk, Virginia. She has also started working on her fourth novel.

“With every new book, there’s a new adventure,” asserts Michele. “Every time, I hope the process will get easier, but it never does because each book is its own beast, its own treasure, a unique act of discovery,” she says. “If you’re not putting down layers and scraping them away, you’re not really learning anything. You’re not, as John Gardner wrote in The Art of Fiction, making art,” Michele concludes.

To learn more about this talented teacher, see her website at Michele Young-Stone.

Educator Midori Snyder is also a successful novelist

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Former high school teacher Midori Snyder has published nine novels for children and adults, and numerous short stories and essays. Photo credit: Midori Snyder

Many fine educators also earn acclaim as published authors. One of these is Midori Snyder, a former high school teacher who has written nine books for children and adults.

Midori was born on January 1, 1954, in Santa Monica, California. As a young woman, she earned her Bachelor’s degree at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where she studied European social history and East Asian literature. She completed her Master’s degree in English Literature and Literary Theory at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. While there, she studied African languages and literature, specializing in Arabic and Swahili oral narrative traditions.

Once she earned her degrees, Midori taught at Marquette University High School. The school is a private Jesuit Roman Catholic school for boys located in Milwaukee.

Midori’s novels include her first novel, Soulstring, published in 1987, is a Gothic, high fantasy tale based on the British folk song “Tamlin.” She also wrote The Flight of Michael McBride, published in 1994, and Hannah’s Garden, published in 2005. Her novel Innamorati, published in 1998, garnered a Mythopoeic Award. She has published various pieces of short fiction and poetry has been published in a number of anthologies, including Borderlands and The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror. Her essays have appeared in magazines such as Realms of Fantasy. She has also collaborated with comic book artist Charles Vess to write the script for “Barbara Allen” in the acclaimed series Book of Ballads and Sagas.

After she left the classroom, Midori served as the Co-Director of The Endicott Studio, a nonprofit arts and literature organization founded in 1987. She also served as the Co-Editor of The Journal of Mythic Arts, founded in 1997. In 2007, she served as the jury chair for the James Tiptree, Jr., Award.

To read more about this talented educator, see her website at www.midorisnyder.com.

Teacher LaWanna Shurtliff served in Utah’s House of Reps

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Many superb educators also achieve successful careers in politics. One was Utah’s LaWanna Shurtliff, a high school English teacher who was elected to her states House of Representatives. Photo credit: Utah House of Representatives.

Many superb educators also achieve successful careers in politics. One of these was Utah’s LaWanna Shurtliff, a high school English teacher who was elected to her state’s House of Representatives.

LaWanna was born in Smoot in Star Valley, Wyoming, on June 13, 1935. As a youngster, she spent much of her childhood on her grandfather’s farm engaged in various farm chores. She milked cows, tended sheep, fed chickens, gathered eggs, and hauled hay. That’s how she learned the value of hard work.

After she graduated from Star Valley High School in 1953, LaWanna attended Utah State University, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in 1957. She inaugurated her career as an educator at Roy Junior High in Utah, and later transferred to Ogden High School in Ogden, Utah. There she taught English, accounting, and business. Her career as an educator spanned from 1966 to 1994, a total of 29 years. In addition to her classroom duties, she was elected the President of the Ogden Education Association, the Director of the Utah Education Association, and a member of the National Education Association.

For her work in the classroom, LaWanna earned many accolades. Over her lifetime, she received the Alumni Merit award from Utah State University; the Lt. Governor’s Volunteer Recognition Certificate for her work with the Weber County League of Women Voters; the Lewis W. Shurtliff Award for Contributions to Education; the Utah Domestic Violence Council Award; the Weber County Commissions’ Hero Award; the UEA honor Roll; the Golden Apple Award for Teaching Excellence; and the Order of the Pearl Kappa Delta Sorority.

In 1998, LaWanna was elected to the Utah State House of Representatives on the Democratic ticket. She represented District 10 until 2008. Her decision to pursue politics sprang from her background in education and her wish to increase funding for public schools and Utah teachers. During her time in the legislature, the former educator passed bills that assisted victims of domestic violence and increased funding for Utah schools and teachers. The legislation she championed showed her fierce determination to protect women and children.

Sadly, LaWanna succumbed to pneumonia on Dec. 30, 2020. She was 85 years old. To read more about this Chalkboard Champion, see this article about her published by The Salt Lake Tribune.

DC’s Sharon Ambrose: English teacher and politician

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High School English teacher Sharon Ambrose established herself as a distinguished political leader on the Council of the District of Columbia. Photo credit: The Washington Post.

Many hardworking educators leave the classroom to establish themselves in politics. One of these was Sharon Ambrose, a teacher from Illinois who went on to become a distinguished political leader on the Council of the District of Columbia.

Sharon was born on Sept. 3, 1939, on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. In 1961, she earned her Bachelor’s degree in English from Saint Xavier University in Chicago. Saint Xavier is a private Catholic women’s school. While in high school and college, Sharon was actively involved in forensics and public speaking. In fact, she met Mike Ambrose, the man she eventually married, at a forensics event. Following her graduation, Sharon worked as a high school English teacher and a PTA leader in Chicago for several years.

In 1964, Sharon’s husband accepted a job with the Internal Revenue Service in Washington, DC, and the family relocated to that city. Almost immediately, Sharon launched herself into volunteer work for the presidential election, a supporter of Lyndon Johnson. She also became very involved with volunteering at the school her children attended, teaching an elementary after-school writing program and becoming president of the school’s PTA. Later she taught courses at the city’s Friendship House that helped individuals earn their GED, a high school equivalency program.

Sharon was elected on the Democratic ticket to the Council of the District of Columbia representing Ward 6. She held this post from 1997 to 2007. When the former teacher took office, the city was struggling to recover from insolvency. Sharon became the Chair of the Council’s committee on economic development, opposing projects that she saw as unreasonably expensive. At the same time, she successfully lobbied for major developments in her ward, which includes Capitol Hill and the Southwest Waterfront and Navy Yard. She was largely responsible for persuading the Washington Nationals to locate their ballpark in a formerly industrial section of the waterfront.

Sadly, this Chalkboard Politician passed away on April 4, 2017, in Washington, DC. She was 77 years old. To learn more about this amazing educator and politician, see this interview published by the Capitol Hill History Project.

Texas teacher and Coach Gene Gonzales succumbs to Covid-19

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Eugenio “Gene” Gonzales, a football and basketball coach and English teacher at Saginaw High School in Texas, has succumbed to Covid-19. Photo credit: Dignity Memorial.

With sadness, we report that Covid-19 has claimed the life of yet another beloved educator and coach. Eugenio “Gene” Gonzales of Saginaw, Texas, succumbed to the disease on March 16, 2021.

Gene coached football and basketball teams at Saginaw High School. He also taught English there. The respected educator had a reputation for being a very humble man, to the point that some might think he was “very private,” but when it came to his students’ successes in the classroom or on the field, even in life in general, he was always proud. Those who were his students him say his method of teaching them was not just about curriculum, but also about life, perseverance, and how to be a good person. He was known to always see the best in people, and to live his life as a good example for others.

Gene was born on February 17, 1973, in San Angelo, Texas. As a young man, he graduated from Central High School in 1991. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Education with a minor in Kinesiology from Texas Wesleyan University, a private Methodist university located in Fort Worth, Texas.