Tag Archives: Teacher Authors

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.

Texas Theater Arts teacher Brad DeBorde named a 2020 Top Teacher

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Middle school and high school Theater Arts teacher Brad DeBorde of Texas has been named a 2020 Top Teacher by Fort Worth Magazine. Photo credit: Brad DeBorde

I enjoy sharing stories about exceptional educators who have earned awards for their work in the classroom. One of these is Brad DeBorde, a Theater Arts teacher from Grand Prairie, Texas. He has been named a 2020 Top Teacher by Fort Worth Magazine.

Brad comes from a family of teachers. His father taught physical education to special needs students, and his mother served as an Athletic Director of DeSoto Independent School District. The honored educator earned his Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from the University of North Texas in 2006. Currently, he teaches middle and high school Drama at the Oakridge School in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District. In his spare time, he has directed productions at Ellis County Children’s Theater in Waxahatchie, Texas.

Brad says he sees a lot of parallels between himself and his students. They’re all growing together. “Those first five years as a teacher, you’re a young punk and think you know everything,” Brad confessed. “And then you settle in and realize ‘Oh, teaching is also a lifelong learning position.’ So, like your students, you grow and you mature,” he continued.

In addition to theater, Brad is also a writer of five fantasy novels for young adults in a series he dubbed Paydunor. Check out his publications on amazon.com. He also teaches a seminar course on independent publishing. “My students spend half the semester writing a novel or novella, and I teach them how to self-publish or find literary agents,” he described. “We’ve actually had about 12 students published now. It’s kinda cool that a kid can enter a college interview and say, ‘Hey, here’s my novel,'” he concluded.

 

Talented teacher and celebrated poet Rosemary Thomas

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There are many talented educators who have also earned acclaim as authors. One of these was Rosemary Thomas, a creative writing instructor who also authored and published excellent poetry.

Rosemary was born on February 16, 1901. As a young woman, she earned her Bachelor’s degree from Smith College in 1923. She earned her Master’s degree from Columbia University in 1950.

Rosemary taught creative writing at a number of prestigious schools, including Spence School and Brearley School in New York. She also taught at the Shipley School in Bryn Mawr in Pennsylvania, and Oxford Schooling Hartford, Connecticut.

The talented educator was also a successful poet. Her poems were published in the New York Times, The New Yorker, and in other distinguished magazines. In 1951, Rosemary garnered the Twayne First Book Contest for her inaugural book of poems, Immediate Sun. The book featured a foreword written by celebrated poet Archibald MacLeish, who described her poems as having “a common quality, a characteristic idiom, and inflection the reader would recognize again as a man recognizes the inflection of a decisive voice.” The volume included a poem about her brother-in-law, Canadian tennis star J. F. Foulkes, entitled The Colonel. A second collection of Rosemary’s poems entitled Selected Poems of Rosemary Thomas was published posthumously in 1968.

Rosemary passed away on April 7, 1961, in New York City. In her honor, the English Language and Literature Department at her alma mater, Smith College, awards the Rosemary Thomas Poetry Prize each year to the best poem or group of poems.

Alabama’s Catharine Brown: Cherokee teacher and author

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Alabama’s Catharine Brown, a Cherokee who, during the early 19th century, worked as a missionary teacher, also became a celebrated author. Her memoirs were widely distributed and immensely popular.

There are many examples of Native Americans who became teachers and leaders in their community. Some have also become celebrated authors. One of these was Catharine Brown, a Cherokee who, during the early 19th century, worked as a missionary teacher and writer.

Catherine was born at the turn of the century, circa 1800, in a small village in Cherokee Indian Territory, Alabama, approximately 25 miles southeast of the Tennessee River. Her parents, Yau-nu-gung-yah-ski (“Drowned by a Bear”), known by Westerners as John Brown, and Tsa-luh, known as Sarah, held a place of prominence in their tribe.

As a young girl of about 17, Catharine attended the Brainerd Missionary School. Her progress there was impressive. In only three months, she learned to read the Bible in the English language. Then she became a tutor to younger students in the school. May 1820, Catharine accepted a position as a teacher at a school for Native Americans established at Creek Path, her home town. The school opened with 20 students, but enrollment continued to grow, as both children and their parents were eager to learn.

In 1821, Catharine left the school to nurse her brother John, who had contracted tuberculosis. Unfortunately, he did not survive. Soon after he died, Catharine began to show symptoms of the deadly disease. By 1823, her condition was so serious that she was transported by canoe to the home of a missionary doctor. But, sadly, she died on July 18, 1823. She was not older than 23.

One year after her passing, Catherine’s biography was published. The volume, entitled Memoir of Catharine Brown, A Christian Indian of the Cherokee Nation, was widely distributed and became immensely popular. Largely forgotten in the following centuries, Catharine Brown has recently been rediscovered as an influential Native American leader and writer. You can find her memoir on amazon.

Illinois’ Ola “Madge” Miller Green: Teacher, author, and politician

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Ola “Madge” Miller Green: Educator, author, and political. Photo credit: Findagrave.com

Many dedicated educators also make excellent authors and fine politicians. One of these was Ola “Madge” Miller Green, an Illinois school teacher who published an important school textbook and who also served her community in the Illinois Senate.

Ola was born on April 19, 1900, in Palestine, Crawford County, Illinois. As a youngster, she attended public schools in her home town. Once she graduated from high school, she earned her Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree in Education from Indiana State University in Terra Haute.

Once she completed her education, Ola accepted a position as a school teacher in a public school in Palestine. Later she taught in Richmond, Indiana. While working as a teacher, Ola authored the book Through the Years in Indiana, published in 1954. The volume was widely used as a textbook in Indiana schools.

When Ola’s husband, Herschel S. Green, an Illinois State Senator, passed away in office in 1962, the veteran school teacher was appointed to serve the remainder of his term. Later she was elected on her own merit on the Republican ticket to a full term in the Senate. She served until 1965. Once she left office, Ola served as the postmistress for the Illinois Senate.

This Chalkboard Champion passed away December 11, 1989, in Springfield, Illinois. She was 89 years old. Her remains are interred at Hutsonville Cemetery in Hutsonville, Illinois. To read more about Ola “Madge” Miller Green, see her obituary published by Findagrave.