Black History Month: Celebrating the life and legacy of Black Women Educators – Margo Ford

 

Margo L. Ford Crosby, M.Ed

Author, Educator, Advocate, and Early Care and Learning Professional

 

 “Let us take time, therefore, to be gracious, to be thoughtful, to be kind… with greater velocity on the upward road to equal opportunity and Justice for all. “

-Dr. Charlotte Hawkins Brown

 

With over a decade of teaching experience, Margo Ford Crosby has a track record of success in advocacy, family engagement, and early childhood. She was raised in a family which values community and public service, which inspired her desire to help people at an early age, inspiring her to move towards community outreach programs in middle and high schools and as a camp counselor.  Now, she is advocating for Equity in Early Care and Education, Advocating for Public Education with her child’s school PTA, a member of NBCDI, just to name a few.

Ms. Ford Crosby attended the illustrious and historic James Benson Dudley Senior High School in Greensboro, NC and Historically Black College and University, the Winston-Salem State University (WSSU), affectionately known as “teacher college” or “TC '' among early black educators.  She entered WSSU as a Pre-Teaching Academy Scholar and finished with a BS in Birth-Kindergarten Education with a concentration in Business Administration. While on campus Margo served on the executive Board of Student North Carolina Association of Educators (SNCAE) and participated in many outreaches and service-learning projects, along with working in the Housing Department. After receiving her first degree in 2007, she joined Northwest Child Development as a staff member and dedicated employee.

For ten years of her in-class experience, Ms. Ford Crosby taught PreK and Kindergarten at two different sites within Guilford County Schools (GCS) and was named a Mission Possible Teacher Leader, a Grade Level Representative on the School Based Leadership Team, as well as a Teacher Leader for the District Early Learning Department. Within this tenure with GCS, she co-wrote and received a grant entitled “Healthy Kids ROCK!”, a two-time finalist for School Teacher of the Year, spoke as a panelist to students about careers in Early Childhood at North Carolina A&T State University, and mentored student teachers and future educators, while serving as an instructor at two Community Colleges as well as a Curriculum Specialist and teacher with the Learning Together program at Guilford Child Development.

Margo is currently serving in an administrative capacity as the Director of Pre-K and BASES (Before and After School Enrichment Services) with Alamance Burlington Public Schools. She is also the Founder of TLC Consulting Early Childhood Education Consultation Firm in Guilford County, NC. She provides engaging training sessions as a DCDEE certified trainer as well as hosts panel discussions with community leaders and advocates bringing awareness of early care and education to the community. She earned her first master’s degree in 2011 from Ashford University in Education and Curriculum Instruction and a second master’s in the spring of 2020 from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, in Leadership and Administration in Early Childhood.

She is energized by the spirit of her ancestral honorary Soror, Dr. Charlotte Hawkins Brown and motivated by the larger than life, worldly presence of Dr. Iheoma Iruka, who encourages us to “listen, learn, and unlearn.” In the spirit of these wonderful women and many others, Margo authored her first publication in 2020, a book of affirmations for young readers entitled, Mirrors Up . She is an active member of NAEYC and NCAEYC where she serves as an Equity Leader and on the state affiliate policy committee. During speaking engagements, she can always be heard saying “sharing is caring” as well as encouraging and demanding, “Grace, Patience, and Flexibility” in early care and education.

In her personal life, when not advocating for early care and education, Margo enjoys cooking, walking, reading, supporting black owned businesses, spending time with family as well as service to all mankind with her lovely sisters of the Sigma Kappa Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She is passionate, purpose driven, and continues to pursue equity among early care and education as she resides in McLeansville, NC with her encouraging husband and creatively authentic teenage daughter.

 

“Start with yourself, but don’t stay there and don’t do it by yourself.”

-Dr. Iheoma Iruka