REACH to Teach Faculty
Phyllis Smith, MA
Phyllis J. Smith is an assistant professor in the School of Education at Trinity International University. She started in 2005.
Prior to coming to Trinity, Professor Smith taught for more than thirty years in School District 16 in Glendale Heights, Illinois, and in School District 200 in Wheaton, Illinois. As an educator, Professor Smith taught in a self-contained fifth grade classroom, as well as summer school courses in gifted science, specializing in model rocketry and biological dissection. In addition, she taught remedial reading and mathematics classes to second and third grade students. Professor Smith coauthored the original state gifted proposal for District 16 and later served on the Gifted Task Force in District 200. Professor Smith was recently invited to be a member of the superintendent selection committee for Glenbard School District 87.
Professor Smith has ministered as junior high youth director in two churches and as senior high youth director in one church in Downers Grove, Illinois. In addition, she has served as summer camp counselor for Pioneer Clubs. Also, she performed as a vocalist in a gospel group that toured sixty churches in ten states over a two-year period. Currently, Professor Smith serves as a volunteer with the Meals On Wheels program.
Professor Smith earned her BS in Elementary Education at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois, and her MA in Administration and Supervision at Roosevelt University in Chicago. Her areas of interest include racial reconciliation and musical multiple intelligence. She has published two articles for Campus Crusade for Christ and the gospel song "A Child Brought Me Home" and has written more than a dozen additional songs.
Professor Smith is a member of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), the National Alliance of Black School Educators (NABSE), and the Illinois Association for Teacher Education in Private Colleges (IATEPC). She resides in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. In her spare time she enjoys reading, writing songs, and training her Coton de Tulear puppy, Cotonbrie Tata ("Tanzie").