Before becoming a first-grade teacher at Jackson Street School in Northampton, Mary Cowhey spent many years as a volunteer community organizer, fighting for the rights of people in need. She applies the same relentless passion for social justice to her classroom, school and community. After traveling last year to South Africa to attend the United Nations World Conference against Racism (WCAR), Ms. Cowhey engaged her students and their families in a book drive that collected and shipped over 2,000 books to help establish libraries in three rural South African schools. She co-chairs the curriculum and professional development subcommittee of a district-wide committee on diversity, civil rights and multicultural education. Ms. Cowhey was recently featured in an award-winning documentary about a book on bullying called Oliver Button is a Star.
1997 Smith College, B.A.
