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Last updated 9/26/03
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The NEA Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence
2003 Finalist and Recipient of The Horace Mann–
NEA Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence
Marian Galbraith
Connecticut Education Association
 Marian Galbraith, a reading teacher at West Side Middle School, is a 25-year veteran of the Groton Public Schools. She has also taught courses at several colleges and universities, most recently at Connecticut College from 1996–2001. Dr. Galbraith’s goal is to bring all of her students to their full potential. She says, “This may mean providing more time or finding ways to address differing learning styles. . . providing an atmosphere in which students. . . believe that success is both possible and desirable. It also means never giving up, even when a student wants to.”
Dr. Galbraith encourages her students to set their own learning goals and measure their own success, tied to district standards. A leading advocate for the Connecticut Writing Project, Dr. Galbraith models good writing and often shares her own work-in-progress with her students.
For Dr. Galbraith, watching students fall short of their potential is simply not acceptable. That is why she founded Aretè, an academic support group for African-American high school males. Aretè countermands societal bias, negative peer pressure, and low expectations that too-often plague African-American students. During twice-a-week study sessions, group members encourage each other to persevere and celebrate each other’s achievements. Dr. Galbraith and a colleague serve as academic coaches, cheerleaders, funders, fundraisers, and counselors for the ten high school and two college students. Annually, Aretè sponsors a tour of historically black colleges and universities. In its sixth year, this support network has enabled several of its members to beat the odds and matriculate to college.
Dr. Galbraith, 2002 Connecticut Teacher of the Year, was one of four finalists for National Teacher of the Year. During that same period, the Mistick River Business and Professional Women named her as Woman of the Year. As a National Board Certified Teacher, Dr. Galbraith serves on the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Board of Directors. She has served as a mentor for new teachers.
In addition to the time she devotes to professional activities, Dr. Galbraith is a city councillor. Her involvement in the community has facilitated special classroom projects, including the development of a website that features Groton history. She co-founded Parents and Educators for Eliminating Racism in Schools, which engages teachers and parents of diverse backgrounds in examining their own biases and their affect on schooling.
Dr. Galbraith credits the NEA with her professional growth. She learns new ideas to try in her school and classroom during NEA-sponsored meetings and receives encouragement from her fellow members to take the professional risks necessary to improve her practice. She says, “The ideas I’ve been exposed to have led to changes in my classroom and school—technology, integrated curriculum, block scheduling, and thematic instruction…. I am the teacher I am because of the [teachers’] association.” The NEA is where she learned “to fight for students.”
Dr. Galbraith has served as president of the Groton Education Association and has been a member of the board of directors of both the National and the Connecticut Education Associations.
For more information on The Horace Mann Companies, our partners in
The NEA Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence, click here.
Award for Teaching Excellence main page
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