Marjorie E. West
1995 Inductee
In 1987, Marge West became the first blind teacher in Colorado to be allowed to continue to teach in the regular classroom with a guide dog, "Rush," and full-time aide.
West believes in the African proverb that it takes a village to raise a child, and so works to encourage parental involvement and to build school/business partnerships. West has taught first graders at Glennon Heights Elementary School in Lakewood, Colorado since 1969. Prior to that, she held teaching assignments in Killeen, Texas; Great Bend, Kansas; Fort Wainwright, Alaska; El Paso District 11 in Colorado, and Weisbaden, Germany.
She earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Northern Colorado and completed post-graduate work at Louisiana State University and the University of New Orleans. She is currently a guest lecturer in Reading for the University of Northern Colorado.
Special Honors
1995 | Commencement Speaker, University of Northern Colorado |
1995 | Coordinator of the 1995 Colorado State Teacher Forum |
1994 | Colorado Teacher of the Year |
1994 | NTHF finalist |
1994 | National Teacher of the Year finalist |
1994 | Valley Forge Teacher's Medal of Excellence (National Award) awarded by the Freedom Foundation at Valley Forge |
1994-1997 | Three-year Appointment to State Accountability Committee |
1988 | Trailblazer Award for Honorary Alumna, University of Northern Colorado |