Author Collects Letters from Every Continent of the World to Honor Teacher

AUTHOR COLLECTS LETTERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD TO HONOR FOURTH-GRADE TEACHER AFTER 35 YEARS OF LEAVING CLASS

                    She Wrote My Name on the Blackboard 

What would trigger a grown man to write to people in every continent of the world, including <st1:place>Antarctica</st1:place>, requesting letters for a teacher who taught him more than 35 years ago? Why does he still remember the 50 students’ first and last names from his fourth-grade class after those many years since he left that classroom? What was so special about that class? And why has he been so preoccupied with that one class and none other, even though he is more than 4,000 miles away from that teacher and school today?

Author Nandell A. Palmer answers these questions and more in his book, Blessings at Your Fingertips (288 pp., paperback, $19.99), a collection of 21 chapters, chock full of inspirational, real-life stories.

In a chapter entitled, “She Wrote My Name on the Blackboard,” the ever-grateful Palmer paid tribute to this nonpareil fourth-grade teacher, Evangeline Martin, at <st1:place><st1:placename>Balmagie</st1:placename> <st1:placetype>Primary School</st1:placetype></st1:place> in <st1:place><st1:city>Kingston</st1:city>, <st1:country-region>Jamaica</st1:country-region></st1:place>. He has spearheaded a mission to honor this teacher at a joint book signing/citation ceremony. One of the vehicles he has employed to kickoff this auspicious occasion was to collect letters from educators, students, politicians, members of the diplomatic corps, among others, spanning every continent of the world, and yes, including <st1:place>Antarctica</st1:place>.

In front of a packed audience, he presented those letters in a beautififully-packaged portfolio, along with a plaque, to Miss Martin on Friday, March 14, 2008 at the TIC Conference Room at the University of Technology (UTECH) in Kingston. Among the many letters he has received are from Queen Elizabeth II – yes, straight from Buckingham Palace, United States governors, senators, mayors, the esteemed Archbishop of South Africa, Desmond Tutu, just to name a few noted officials. All the letters glowed with encomiums about the wonderful contributions Miss Martin has made to her young charges.

To say that this woman is special is an understatement. She did so much for her students without even asking for any kinds of remuneration, said the grown man who can get very emotional talking about his teacher. Every day, the first thing she would do as she entered the classroom, was to go to the blackboard, choose a child's name at random, and write out his or her name on the upper right hand corner of the blackboard, he said. That boy or girl would feel like a king or queen for the entire day.

“That act of writing a child’s name on the blackboard would seem trivial now to the average reader, but to us it meant the world,” the student at heart offered. “We were so proud to see our names on the blackboard. Many of us would not even leave the classroom for the day to eat lunch. We stared with glee at our names on the blackboard. I liken that feeling to seeing one's name in neon lights at <st1:place><st1:city>Times Square</st1:city>, <st1:state>New York</st1:state></st1:place>.”

Palmer went on to say that whether a child had nappy hair or green eyes, his or her name would get on the blackboard. “That was my first lesson in equality. It bolstered my self-esteem, especially since my own mother left our family when I was only three years old. That gesture has made a profound impact on my young life,” he said.

“When Miss Martin wrote our names on the blackboard, she was saying a thousand words.” Absenteeism was never a problem for his class, Palmer said, as nobody wanted to ever miss seeing his or her name on the blackboard. Many of those students have gone on to become actuaries, engineers, journalists, teachers, doctors, among other professions.

The globetrotting man confessed that Miss Martin’s class was the only class that he had ever attended for a full school year during his elementary and secondary education. Because of financial constraints, he had to drop out of school in the eighth grade, and started his own business before his 14th birthday. Nevertheless, he had always harbored hope of getting a solid education. He pledged to put himself through university, and that dream came true when at 28 years old he enrolled in college, the City University of New York.

That penchant for higher learning served him well. In fact, he is proud to say that he had never missed a day of school during his college years. He later graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in Business Journalism, earning a 3.77 GPA, while working and attending school full time. To top it off, Palmer holds the distinction of being the first person in his family to graduate from a tertiary institution.

“I owe a lot of my achievements to my wonderful teacher,” he said. “She just retired last year, but she has availed herself to teach voluntarily at another school. I strongly doubt that you can call that retirement.”

The most interesting thing, Palmer said, was that there were no school-wide mandates in place for Miss Martin to do what she did; there was no edict from the Ministry of Education, but she did it. He said that he has questioned myriads of people from all over the world about a teacher writing their names on a blackboard in a positive light, and no one to date has ever heard of such a thing. That is why he and his fellow classmates felt so special, he said.

So far, one prominent teachers college in <st1:place><st1:city>Kingston</st1:city>, <st1:country-region>Jamaica</st1:country-region></st1:place>, has adopted that section of the book, and has made it part of its teacher training curriculum, Palmer said. One teacher even told him that along with putting a student’s name on the blackboard, she has adapted the concept and went a little further. She asks each child to bring photographs of himself/herself to school, and for that day, the chosen child’s name and photographs would get on the blackboard; that student would then be celebrated for that day.

Another teacher selects a child at the beginning of the school week, and gives him/her the coveted role to serve as class prefix or monitor for the entire week. That schedule is rotated weekly so that all the students would get a chance to serve their peers as leaders of their class. A few elementary schools in the Greater Seattle area have begun using this method as well.

The ebullient Palmer said that he is on a mission to stamp out the negatives that are attached with writing students’ names on the blackboard. That was a rude awakening for him two years ago, he said, when his middle son was sent to bed early one evening as a form of punishment. The boy started crying, since his assignment was not completed. He insisted that he had to do it or else his teacher would write his name on the blackboard as a form of punishment. “I was speechless,” Palmer said. “How could one’s name be on the blackboard and he associates it with punishment?” That was when it dawned on him to make writing one’s name on the blackboard a positive universal theme.

In traipsing the globe to promote Blessings at Your Fingertips, the author has been privileged to be on the panels of some great media houses. On <st1:date>January 19, 2008</st1:date>, he had a book signing at the celebrated Hue-Man Bookstore in <st1:city><st1:place>New York City</st1:place></st1:city>. That is where the likes of former president, Bill Clinton, Russell Simmons, Tyler Perry, Toni Morrison, Bill Cosby, Ruby Dee, Suzie Orman, just to name a few celebrities, sign their books. He was also featured on the New York-based CIN’s Caribbean Lifestyle Magazine for an hour-long interview on Sunday/Tuesday February 17 and 19, respectively. Upcoming book signings are set for <st1:place><st1:city>London</st1:city>, <st1:country-region>England</st1:country-region></st1:place>, the <st1:place>Cayman Islands</st1:place>, <st1:place><st1:city>Cape Town</st1:city>, <st1:country-region>South Africa</st1:country-region></st1:place>, <st1:country-region><st1:place>Singapore</st1:place></st1:country-region>, just to name a few places around the world.

Nandell Palmer is elated about speaking with you. He would be honored if you could convene an interview with him where he would be able to discuss his story in greater detail. 

To place orders for the book, contact:
Write A Blessing Media
<st1:address><st1:street>P.O. Box 1734</st1:street>
<st1:city>Seattle</st1:city>, <st1:state>WA</st1:state> <st1:postalcode>98023</st1:postalcode></st1:address>
Toll-free: (877) 209-2332
Phone: (206) 653-7167
e-mail: Palmern777@aol.com,
URL: www.Writeablessing.com. To arrange a book signing or interview, contact Neville Williams at 206-334-7291 or Nandell@writeablessing.com, Neville@writeablessing.com