The Truth Staff
The members of Phi Delta Kappa Sorority, Inc, Beta Gamma Chapter of Toledo Ohio, held their annual Calla Lily Educator’s Award Luncheon on Saturday, November 1, at the Premier, and seven local educators were honored for their contributions to the community. One of the seven was presented with the esteemed 2025 Calla Lily Award.
The program began with the procession of the honorees before the mistress of ceremony, Treva Martin, a Toledo Public Schools administrator, opened the proceedings. Lunch was served after the greeting from Jacqueline Quinn, president of the Beta Gamma Chapter, and the invocation by Pat Scales.
This year’s honorees are Amanda Barnett, Jazzma Chandler, Lindsey Tucker, Zahra Aprili Collins, Sheila Cook, Georgina Johnson and Johnnie McCoy.
Barnett, a building paraprofessional at Deveaux Elementary, is executive director of YMWFC Change Academy and founder of Soul & Soil, initiatives rooted in healing, discipline and empowerment.
Chandler, the community hub director at the YMCA, has fostered programs to strengthen families and communities. In 2025 she became academy director at Clever Bee Academy, leading educators who inspire young minds.
Tucker, an assistant to the Start High School nurse, embodies the heart of the Start community, creating a safe, nurturing space for students to thrive.
Collins, founder and director of the Toledo Urban Volleyball Association and Urban/Volley419, partners with the Wayman Palmer YMCA to make volleyball accessible of underrepresented communities. Her programs include Mindfulness for Athletes which blend athletic and emotional development.
Cook, a retired Toledo Police Officer and social worker, for the past decade has been a pillar at MLK Jr Academy for Boys, inspiring students through compassion, creativity and service. Under her leadership the school’s outreach achieved global recognition.
Johnson, the librarian at Discovery Academy, is passionate about fostering a love of reading and creativity in every student she meets McCoy, whose career has spanned maintenance, administration and leadership, has been the maintenance supervisor at Discovery Academy for 11 years and basketball coach at Achieve Academy for seven championship seasons.
The Beta Gamma Chapter, in addition to honoring seven educators also presented several other special awards. Ariel Witcher, a student at Clark Atlanta University received a scholarship in the amount of $1,000.
Bessie Mack, the sorority’s publicity director, received a surprise special presentation and a Life Membership Pin in the National Sorority of Phi Delta Kappa, Inc
Honoree Sheila Cook was also surprised to be named the 2025 Calla Lily Award winner.
The program closed with remarks from local elected officials: State Senator Paula Hicks-Hudson, Toledo City Councilwoman Cerssandra McPherson and Toledo City Council President Vanice Williams
Linda Collins, Julie Flowers and Tina Hall were this year’s event chairpersons.
National Sorority of Phi Delta Kappa, Inc. (NSPDK) is a nonprofit, educational sorority founded by eight educators desiring to establish a sisterhood among teachers and promote the highest ideals of the teaching profession. NSPDK was the idea of Gladys Merritt Ross, who, on Good Friday, March 30, 1923, convened a group of young teachers from Jersey City Normal School in Jersey City, New Jersey to discuss the idea of forming a sorority.
The eight founders are Gladys Merritt Ross (Mother Founder), Julia Asbury Barnes, Ella Wells Butler, Marguerite Gross, Florence Steele Hunt, Edna McConnell, Gladys Cannon Nunery and Mildred Morris Williams.
