Throughout her childhood, a 34-year teaching career in Cherry Hill Public Schools, and now retirement, Marcia Brown has lived her passion for education.

 

When Marcia was a child, her favorite activity was “playing school,” enlisting neighborhood friends and her younger brother to be her pupils. As a Future Teachers of America member at Neshaminy High School in Langhorne, PA, she won a national contest with her essay entitled “A Teacher Affects Eternity” (quotation by Henry Adams).

 

Upon earning her B.A. and M.S. in Education at the University of Pennsylvania, Marcia became a reading specialist at Cherry Hill High School East.  After 20 years, she transferred to Clara Barton Elementary School, where exciting new opportunities awaited—including the one that led to this honor.  Her principal and mentor, Philip Reed, made it possible for her to attend annual conferences of the International Reading Association, where she discovered Canadian teacher/author Lois Burdett and her “Shakespeare for Kids” series. Marcia did not know at that time how Burdett would dramatically affect her teaching and ignite the imaginations of hundreds of students in South Jersey.

 

From 2002 to her retirement in 2005, Marcia, co-teaching with Barton’s 2^nd grade teachers, engaged students in the interactive exploration of Shakespeare’s writing and his life and times.  Everyone fell under the spell of the “Bard’s” magic.  

 

As a retiree, Marcia has taken advantage of opportunities to continue working with children.  She served 4 years on the Temple Beth Sholom Preschool Board and has volunteered for BookMates and for the Raab/Goodwin Holocaust Museum and Education Center.

 

Perhaps it was “bashert” that Marcia’s daughter, Amanda Linick, joined the KBA faculty in 2012.  Marcia spoke to Rachel Zivic and Emily Cook about becoming a volunteer.  When she shared her excitement about teaching Shakespeare to 7 and 8-year-olds, they took a chance…and KBA 3^rd graders have become insatiable Shakespeare scholars ever since!

 

KBA has given Marcia the best unexpected gift of her retirement—the joy of working in a warm and nurturing, innovative and exciting learning community.  She feels welcomed into the extraordinary KBA family.

 

Marcia and her husband Cliff, a financial planner, live in Cherry Hill, where they raised their children, Dan and Amanda.  Marcia thanks her children for participating in her school programs, including Dan playing the roles of Shakespeare and Einstein and Amanda as dance choreographer.  It’s not surprising that both Dan and Amanda chose careers in education! 

 

Marcia and Cliff’s greatest pleasure is spending time with their children and four grandchildren. Dan and his wife Colleen live in Maryland with 10-year-old Sadie and 6-year-old Sam.  Amanda lives in Cherry Hill with her husband Dan and their 4-year-old son Nate and daughter Maya, who is almost 2.