Jo Anne Pryor Deshon earned her BS from Millersville (Pa.) State College in 1975, her MEd from the University of Delaware in 1979, and her EdD from the University of Delaware in 2000. She earned National Board Certification (Early Childhood Generalist) in 2001. Deshon has been a classroom teacher (mostly first grade and third grade) for 32 years. She has been both a full-time and part-time instructor at the University of Delaware, teaching Elementary Curriculum: Language Arts, Elementary Curriculum: Reading, and Emerging Literacy.
The University of Delaware recognized Deshon with a Woman of Excellence Award in 1989. She was the Downes Elementary School and Christina School District Teacher of the Year in 1999. The Delaware State Chamber of Commerce recognized her twice (1999 and 2005) as a Superstar in Education for a literacy program and history program she developed. She was the U.S. Department of Education’s NCLB American Star of Teaching for the state of Delaware in 2005. In 2006 Deshon was again honored by the University of Delaware, this time with the Outstanding Education Alumni Award. Deshon was recently recognized for her science teaching and awarded the 2008 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.
Deshon has written proposals for and been awarded more than 40 grants (DuPont, Kodak, Hercules, MBNA, Verizon, Toyota TIME, Phi Delta Kappa Research, Association of Childhood Education International, Science Mathematics Technology Alliance) to bring innovative projects to her classroom, school, and district. She has presented at local, state, regional, and national conferences including National Research Council, American Educational Research Association, Association for Childhood Education International, National Science Teachers Association, and National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Deshon participated in the Delaware Writing Project in 2000 and has conducted workshops in how to develop writing mini-lessons for the past ten years. She participated in Delaware’s Democracy Project Institute for Teachers in 2005 and has continued mentoring others in that program. Deshon began serving on TEAC panels in the spring of 2008.