Ann Marie Corgill
Ann Marie Corgill (born c. 1972 in Thomasville) is a former teacher.
Corgill had wanted to study architecture, but was discouraged by her math teachers in high school. She earned her bachelor of science in early childhood education at the University of Alabama in 1994 and a master's in early childhood and elementary education at UAB in 1997 while teaching at Mountain Brook's Brookwood Forest Elementary.
From 2000 to 2006 Corgill lived in New York and taught 2nd and 4th graders at the Manhattan New School, then transferred to a first grade class at the Bronxville School for the next year. In 2008 she returned to Birmingham area and taught first graders at Hoover's Riverchase Elementary School for a little over a year and at Hewitt-Trussville Middle School as a 6th grade teacher for the remainder of the 2009-2010 academic year. She published a book, Of Primary Importance: What’s Essential in Teaching Young Writers, in 2008.
In June 2010 Corgill married accountant Robert Ingram Jr in Tuscaloosa. For the next two years she served as a national consultant for the Oakland, California-based Developmental Studies Center. In the Fall of 2012 she returned to Mountain Brook Schools as a fourth-grade teacher at Cherokee Bend Elementary School. She also volunteered her time Alabama Girls' State and with Birmingham City Schools students through her involvement in Church of the Highlands ministries in Woodlawn.
Corgill was named "Alabama Teacher of the Year" for 2015 and was a finalist for National Teacher of the Year. She spoke at the time about her desire to teach in an inner-city school and soon accepted a job with Birmingham City Schools. She was assigned to a second grade classroom at Oliver Elementary School, part of the Woodlawn Innovation Network.
Before beginning the 2015-2016 academic year, Corgill supplemented her classroom resources with more than $1,000 in books and materials that she bought herself. Three weeks into the year, she was reassigned to a fifth-grade class, taking over from a resigning teacher. A few days later, she was notified that because Oliver received federal funding through Title I, she would have to provide evidence of certification as a "Highly Qualified Teacher" from the Alabama Department of Education. Corgill had state certification for 1st through 3rd grade, and was certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards to teach children aged 7 to 12. The city school system did not accept her NBPTS certification, and Corgill resigned, effective October 30.
Corgill is a member of the Alabama National Board Certified Teachers Network and the International Reading Association. She also serves on the Elementary Section Steering Committee for the National Council of Teachers of English. She has given presentations for the NCTE and the Developmental Studies Center at numerous events and conferences and written articles for several journals and web-based teacher resources. She is also a pre-service teacher mentor and graduate student mentor for aspiring teachers at Alabama, UAB, Birmingham-Southern College and Samford University.
Publications
- Corgill, Ann Marie (2008) Of Primary Importance: What's Essential in Teaching Young Writers. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers ISBN 9781571103741
References
- "Corgill named state teacher of the year." (May 15, 2014) Village Living
- Leech, Marie (November 2, 2015) "Alabama Teacher of the Year Leaves Classroom. Here’s Her Story" BirminghamWatch
- Sutton, Marie A. (May 26, 2016) "An Alabama Teacher of the Year left. Birmingham’s Oliver Elementary School made national headlines. What happened? What does that say about a path to better schools?" BirminghamWatch.org