Margaret Laurene Powell

MARGARET LAURENE POWELL was born Friday, December 15, 1950, at Provident Hospital, in Baltimore, Maryland. She was the first of ten children born to Floyd Collins Ballard Sr. and Margaret Laurene Keene Ballard. EDUCATION: Margaret began her early Baltimore City Public School education at Fannie L. Barbour Elementary School #161 (located at Saratoga and Schroeder Streets) in west Baltimore. She would go on to attend Harlem Park Junior High School #78. Maintaining excellent grades, Margaret was accepted into Western High School #407. Western High School is a college preparatory school founded in 1844 and is the oldest all-girls public high school in the nation and one of the city’s most distinguished institutions of learning in Baltimore City. At Western, Margaret was an active participant in activities such as the Latin Drama Club, another Drama Group, and was a French tutor. Fortuitously, while in high school, she was also a member of the Future Teachers of America. After graduating from Western in 1968, Margaret attended Coppin State College in the fall. The proud member of a large family, and as the first-born child, she would fondly recall later that all nine of her siblings were born by the time she began her college career, with the youngest two arriving in summer. Margaret received a Bachelor of Science degree in English from Coppin in May 1973. She also received a Master of Science degree in Adult and Continuing Education (Administration and Supervision in May 1983) and a Master of Arts degree in Teaching from Coppin. Margaret continued her studies at Morgan State University where she enrolled in the Ed. D Candidate Urban Education Leadership program. EMPLOYMENT: Margaret started her career as a Financial Aid Officer at Coppin State from 1973 to 1983. She then became Director of Student Accounts at Coppin State from 1983 until she resigned in 2000 after 26 years of dedicated employment with them. Margaret’s next path also represented a career change. She became a Baltimore City Public School teacher during the 2000-01 school year. As an elementary school teacher at Robert W. Coleman, and eventually Matthew A. Henson Elementary School (where both her children attended many years before), Margaret found her niche. She discovered her passion for teaching, where she excelled until “retirement” in 2015. Along the way she exhibited tireless energy, opening Imani Ivy House, a boarding house for several third and fourth grade girls, where the girls lived with her at no cost to their parents. There they studied together, participated in community activities, and learned about health, nutrition, and social graces. Margaret was named “teacher of the year” during two academic school years, all the while building partnerships with parents, other community members, churches, and business, with an overall aim to save the children. COMMUNITY: Margaret did not just talk about community involvement, she personified it. She was a member of the Western High School Alumnae, Matthew A. Henson Neighborhood Association, Matthew A. Henson School Volunteer/Anchor, The Alliance of Rosemont Community Organization (ARCO), Coppin Heights Community Development Corporation, Coppin State University Alumni Association, Greater Baltimore Black Chamber of Commerce, Citizens for Community Improvement, Thriving Communities’ Collaborative, The Community Healing Network: (Emotional Emancipation Healing Circle Facilitator, Ubuntu Circle Facilitator), Worthy Women, Baltimore City Planning Academy Alumnus, Certified Cafe’ Facilitator, Howard Park Civic Association. Margaret started cultural celebrations around Baltimore. Events such as: Kwanzaa, Martin Luther King Day, Juneteenth, Marcus Garvey Day, Grandparent’s Day, Community Healing Days and even a museum in Matthew A. Henson. PROUD LEGACY: Margaret is preceded in death by her parents Floyd Collins Ballard Sr. and Margaret Ballard, two brothers Michael Ballard Sr. and David Ballard Sr. and one sister Ruth Ballard. She leaves to cherish her memory: her son Bomani Ivy and her daughter Takasa Ivy; four beautiful grandchildren, Trevon Amiri, Zaakira Imani, Saadiq Imara and Zari Amariah; four sisters Linda Peete, Michelle Wiley, Lisa Hamm (Gerald) and Kim Ballard; two brothers Floyd Ballard Jr. and Keith Ballard, seventeen nieces and nephews; two aunts Martha Squirewell and Ruth Faulcon; and a host of other extended family members and friends.

Tributes

Margaret Laurene Powell

December 15, 1950 - November 29, 2024