In Loving Memory of Lois Jean Turner

Lois Jean was born on June 3 1927. She grew up and was educated in the historical “VILLE Neighborhood” She was a graduate of Sumner High School, Stowe Teachers College and Saint Louis University where she received her Master Degree in Education  LOIS jean was raised as a Catholic, she later joined Lane Tabernacle CME Church, She remained a faithful member until she transitioned on August 14 2021

 

Lois Jean taught in the St. Louis Public Schools from1949 until her retirement 1990. It was during this time that she assumed a posture of advocacy, she recognized that teachers were not always treated fairly.  She joined the St. Louis Teachers Union Local 420and relentlessly worked for teachers rights and benefits. She was strengthened by her role as Executive board Member, Committee Chair and Delegate to state and national conventions. 

She was the “first” classroom teacher to be elected as Trustee on the Parsons-Blewett Memorial Fund, a private endowment which gives financial assistance to St Louis Public School teachers for professional development and/or financial distress. She successfully initiated new regulations which gave ore benefits to more teachers without the stringent requirements. She was the first classroom teacher to serve on the National Board for Professional Teaching Standard (NBPTS) Her membership on the committee set the tone for what a teacher “should know and be able to do, she was able to ensure qualifications for certification was fare and unbiased.

 

Lois Jean was a life member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) working with the Saint Louis Branch on the educational committee. From here she was appointed as a member of the Voluntary Inter-District Coordinating Council (VICC) Her role as an advocate for children flourished permanently with her visits to schools in the county districts where 
African Americans chose to enroll.  In September of  she was the recipient of the outstanding Citizen award from the American Civil Liberties Union – Eastern MO Region (ACLU-EM)

 

The other organizations that Lois Jean effectively utilized her advocacy efforts were Tennessee State University Alumni Association /Greater St Louis Chapter, ACLU-EM, Organization for Black Struggle (OBS) and monitoring meetings of the St Louis Police Board and St Louis public schools