Teacher
Spellman's years as a teacher and president of the PTA for Happy Acres Elementary School (renamed in 1991 the Gladys Noon Spellman Elementary School), as well as civic association activism as a young mother and housewife in Cheverly during the 1950s led to leadership positions in the reform movement that seized control of the county's government during the 1960s, ousting the old guard Democratic organization that had managed affairs in Prince George's for decades. Spellman was active in the fight for a home rule charter form of government for Prince George's, and in 1962, running on a reform slate, served as a member of the Prince Georges County Board of Commissioners from 1962 to 1970. She served two years as chairman, effectively the head of the county's government. After the establishment of the County Council, Spellman served as councilwoman at large from 1971 to 1974. She was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson to the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations in 1967 and was awarded the highest honor that could be bestowed by county officials nationwide when she became the first woman elected president of the National Association of Counties in 1972.
Read more about this topic: Gladys Spellman
Famous quotes containing the word teacher:
“Mothers seem to be in subtle competition with teachers. There is always an underlying fear that teachers will do a better job than they have done with their child.... But mostly mothers feel that their areas of competence are very much similar to those of the teacher. In fact they feel they know their child better than anyone else and that the teacher doesn’t possess any special field of authority or expertise.”
—Sara Lawrence Lightfoot (20th century)