The local chapter of the Alpha Delta Kappa sorority honored retired longtime Philadelphia school district educators Marianne (Casey) Nolan and Joseph Levin during a recent luncheon at Toscana 52 restaurant in Feasterville.
Nolan and Levin each received the Educator of Distinction Award from Alpha Delta Kappa, an education sorority based in Kansas City that has about 1,400 chapters and 38,000 members. The Pennsylvania Gamma chapter awards scholarships to students preparing for a career in education, provides classroom grants for teachers, gives out Unsung Hero Awards to teachers and supports various charities.
Nolan is a Northwood native who attended Henry R. Edmunds Elementary School, Warren G. Harding Middle School and Frankford High School. She taught for 49 years, all in first-grade classrooms at Laura H. Carnell Elementary School in Oxford Circle. She retired in 2003, but remains active by helping student-teachers at La Salle University and volunteering for the sorority, the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers and the Delaware Valley Reading Association.
Levin came to the United States from Poland at age 9. He attended Philadelphia public schools.
Like Nolan, he earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Temple. He worked as a teacher and principal, spending time at John H. Webster, Robert B. Pollock and Widener Memorial schools and the Northeast Regional Office.
Levin spent 15 years after his retirement as a resource person and consultant for schools and various professional organizations. ••