Dr. Jean Marani

As a small child, Dr. Jean Marani and her mother moved from Ohio to Sarasotawhere she grew up. She was a 1942 graduate of Sarasota High. Dr. Marani attended Florida State College for Women and graduated Phi Beta Kappa with aBachelor of Arts degree, the last year before the school's name changed to FSU.She held a master's degree in secondary education from George PeabodyCollege for Teachers and later earned her Ph.D. at Ohio State University.

Dr. Marani began her career at Sarasota High teaching American History. She taught there until 1958 when she was transferred to the new school in town, Riverview High School. She taught senior American Problems and was the school's curriculum director. 

Dr. Marani was active in local, state, and national education organizations and was a member of Delta Kappa Gamma, the women educator's national honorary society. In 1962, the state's school superintendent nominated her as Florida's entry in the Look Magazine "Teacher of the Year" contest which encouraged all teachers to aspire to greatness and to interest young people to consider teaching careers. She was one of 10 finalists for the award. Two years later, Dr. Marani was named District 14, Florida Federation of Women's Clubs "Teacher of the Year".

In 1967, Dr. Marani was invited to serve on the Yearbook Commission of the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development. In 1970, she moved to Tallahassee where she worked as an educational curriculum consultant at the Department of Education.

Dr. Marani passed away in 2020 at the age of 96.