Traveling teacher Lillie Marshall, a Massachusetts Literacy Champion

One of the biggest advantages a career in teaching has to offer is ample time to travel during the summers. Because traveling is such a terrific learning experience, teaching and traveling go hand in hand. One educator who can testify to this is Lillie Marshall, a high school English and Humanities teacher from Boston.

Lillie graduated from Brookline High School in 1999. Brookline is a public high school located in Brookline, Norfolk County, Massachusetts. Following her high school graduation, she enrolled in Brown University, a private Ivy League school in Providence, Rhode Island. There she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Comparative Literature in 2003.

As soon as she earned her degree, Lillie landed a position as a teacher of English and Humanities at Boston Latin Academy. She enjoyed her work as an educator, but was soon feeling the effects of burn-out. “After five years as a high school English teacher, I was exhausted and frustrated. To continue in education, I knew I needed to step back and get perspective on what learning really is,” Lillie recalls.

To regain her passion for the profession, Lillie spent the next year traveling around the world. She taught in Ghana, did some writing in Thailand, and explored architecture in Spain. In 2009, she started writing a travel blog to chronicle her global experiences. “At the end of the year’s journey, I was energized and excited to teach in Boston again, and have been teaching happily here ever since… with travels every vacation possible, of course!,” she reveals.

For her work in advancing teaching and traveling, Lillie has been named a Massachusetts Literacy Champion. The Massachusetts Literacy Champion Awards Program recognizes outstanding literacy educators, their practices, and their programs.

To check out Lillie’s travel blog, simply click on this link: Teaching Traveling. To learn more about Lillie, check out the short YouTube video about her below.