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| Marker located on Michigan Avenue near Baltic Avenue intersection. |
| Historical Marker text: 1933-2006 An Atlantic City native, Mrs. Cash entered Atlantic City High School in 1947, but left due to illness. She returned three years later to graduate with the class of 1954, then from Douglass College in 1958. Mrs. Cash was the first African-American teacher hired directly from college to teach at Atlantic City High School. She was recognized by the National Sorority of Phi Delta Kappa Inc., Delta Lambda Chapter for service in education, and was named "Teacher of the Year" by the Atlantic City Education Association in 1991. She is most remembered by her students for her proper vocabulary, strict classroom decorum, and dignified demeanor. Her years of volunteer service to various organizations earned her numerous awards. In October 1985 Mrs. Cash co-founded the Inner City Tutorial Program that provided underprivileged students free help to prepare for their SATs. She was active in the community until her retirement in 2002 after 39 years of public service. How I Will Always Remember Mrs. Cash.... I (like many other of her students) will ALWAYS love Mrs. Cash! Mrs. Cash was one of the best teachers from a school full of great teachers. Few days pass that I do not recall a lesson from her classroom. In order to excel in Mrs. Cash's class...we kind of formed "study groups" before they were called study groups. However as a junior if you wanted to pass a vocabulary test, where you were expected to know: the definition, the etymology, and correct spelling of a word? You had your class mates brief you on the hard ones through out the year! We were not just Mrs. Cash's students...we were "family" trying to survive....and make her proud. By now as I am typing this I am fighting back tears because I wish I could call her or drop by her house to complain about how hard she was on us.... I think she knew however, by the time we earned our grades...WE WERE VERY PROUD OF OURSELVES as individual students and as "Vocabulary Test Survivors." It felt FREAKIN AMAZING when you did well in her class or surprised her with a right answer on something she hadn't even taught. I have so many wonderful memories .... One I would like to share is about our second encounter. The 15 year old Raymond Tyler had no idea...why teachers taught. Anyway while trying to pick Mrs. Cash's brain...I noticed something in her class room and the topic of Marcel Marceau came up. I always remembered her "NOT" being shocked that I knew who he was. We spoke for maybe 10 minutes about the mime....little did I know...that would only mean she would expect a lot from me coming into her class. Mrs. Cash did many outstanding things as an educator. The one thing I may have loved the most was her ability to size up a teen in a few minutes and meet then where they were. She always challenged you to be better than you were then and be better than you thought you could be....and if for any reason you struggled....Mrs. Cash was right there with encourage, the tools you needed to succeed and a stern face to let you know....YOU WILL GET IT!!! If I had to pick one word to ascribe to Mrs. Cash ...it would be SPECIAL... It's been more than 30 years since that brash 14 year old Raymond came into her class room....but even now....I hope she would be proud...and I hope she knew how we the students in our junior year class loved and respected her. I have said it before and I will say it once more. Thank you Julie and John Cash for sharing your mother with the children and parents of ACHS. |
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