Editor’s note: During the Thanksgiving holiday, The Hub will take a look back at some of the best and most popular stories from our first semester. This story was originally published on Sept.19, 2014.
Recently honored by Teach For America’s with the national Sue Lehmann Excellence in Teaching, Shirley Bolden feels teaching was what she was meant to do all along. Shirley teaches sixth-grade reading and writing at Benjamin Franklin Middle School. Hailing from Detroit, Shirley graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in journalism. She found her way into teaching through the Teach For America program.
Of Shirley’s three sixth-grade classes, two are on track to make more than two years of reading growth, with the third class on track to make more than three years. On the state assessment, her students outperformed the entire district on every standard, and her classes had a passing rate of 79.1 percent – a full 25 points higher than the district average.
Congratulations go out to Shirley Bolden on this prestigious award.
