Marva Delores Collins
She was an American educator. Collins is best known for creating Westside Preparatory School, a private elementary school in the impoverished Garfield Park neighbourhood of Chicago, Illinois which opened in 1975.
1936
2015
USA
American
1981: Jefferson Awards for Public Service – Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged
1982: Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement
2004: National Endowment for the Humanities – National Humanities Medalist
She grew up in Atmore, Alabama, a small town near Mobile, Alabama, during the time of segregation in the American South. When she was young, Collins went to a strict elementary school in a one-room schoolhouse in Atmore, Alabama, an experience which influenced her later in life. She graduated from Clark College (now known as Clark Atlanta University) in Atlanta, Georgia.
In 1983 President Reagan cited Collins during an unveiling of a national programme to combat adult illiteracy and it was reported that he wanted to nominate her as Secretary of Education due t the success of her teaching methods. She was also asked by President George H W Bush to become Secretary of Education, but she declined in favour of teaching one student at a time. In 1994, Prince featured Collins in his music video The Most Beautiful Girl in the World. He also donated $500,000 to the Westside Preparatory School Teacher Training Institute, which was created to teach Collins’ teaching methodology.
In 1996, Collins was hired to supervise three Chicago public schools that had been placed on probation. In 2004, Collins received a National Humanities Medal, among many awards for her teaching and efforts at school reform
Collins wrote a number of books and motivational tracts describing her history and methods.
Spouse – Clarence Collins
Children – Cynthis Collins, Patrick Collins, Eric Collins
https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/marva-collins-40 accessed 22/06/2022
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/29/us/marva-collins-78-no-nonsense-educator-and-activist-dies.html accessed 22/06/2022
https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/collins-marva-1936/ accessed 22/06/2022
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6778111 accessed 22/06/2022
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marva_Collins accessed 22/06/2022
https://www.azquotes.com/author/19906-Marva_Collins accessed 22/06/2022
