Houston-area author and retired educator Portia McGowan Green having a global impact on children through her dazzling books
Andre Johnson 
During an interview with Making Headline News this week, Green spoke about how her first children’s book, by all accounts, was composed largely through what she deemed the “curiosity” of her great niece.
DALLAS — Although Portia McGowan Green is a retired elementary school teacher, she’s still having a monumental impact on children from various walks of life.
Widely known as “Author Portia” as well as a notable, beloved educator whose solid body of work essentially has left a lasting affect on the education arena in the Houston metropolitan area, Green’s teaching tenure was highlighted by array of accolades and honors, most notably being named Teacher of The Year in 2010, an achievement she described as one of the “most rewarding things I had ever done.”
Though she is years removed from having called it a teaching career, it’s safe to assume that teaching, at least as Green knows it, is still just a prevalent in her life to this very day.
That’s because Green is known largely for her immense writing repertoire, considering she has authored 14 children’s books, a trend that has, in some aspects, earned mentions on a national platform (Ask longtime journalist Roland Martin).
Arguably her most cherished and seemingly most sought after book is “Jasmine and The Old Oak Tree,” which is Green’s first published document and one that depicts the life of her beloved, then-six-year-old great niece, Jasmine Harris.
During an interview with Making Headline News this week, Green — who’s affiliated with the National Black Book Festival in Houston — spoke specifically about how her first children’s book, by all accounts, was composed largely through what she deemed the “curiosity” of her niece.
“God gave this vision to me in 2013 while teaching a writing lesson at school in preparation for the Texas State Assessment,” said Green, explaining how she had gone about grabbing a firm hold of her passion for authoring books.
To her distinct credit, it seems that once God had infused her with a heaven-endorsed assignment to assemble her first book, it seemed as if Green had fielded — and embraced — the God-mandated eyesight as if she expected it.
So much, in fact, that she needed just a few hours to write “Jasmine and the Old Oak Tree.”
Heck, some might call it bragging.
Green, on the hand, sensed all along that sharing her niece’s unique countenance before a sizable and global reading audience was ordained by her Creator — even before her niece was born.
“(I wrote) ‘Jasmine and the Old Oak Tree’ in one evening,” Green said.
Surely, she has Jasmine to thank and vice versa, considering Green’s first book recalls her niece’s true story based largely on her observations and determination to understand what she describes as the “goings-on in an old oak tree” from the comfortable confines of her yard.
Although it took practically a few hours to assemble her first, “Jasmine and the Old Oak Tree” was officially released in 2014 and is available for purchase on Amazon.com and at www.portiamcgowan.com.
From that point, Green had become inspired to write other books.
Before she knew it, she had authored 13 more published documents — all while still having a monumental impact on children from various walks of life.
“I knew from the time I was in third grade that someday I wanted to become a teacher,” Green said. “My mother was my inspiration. I am one of five siblings. I have a sister, Gail, and three brothers: Gary, Anthony and Kenneth, who is also an educator.”
Long before she fulfilled her dream of becoming teacher, Green recalled those times when she and her siblings basically encircled her mother while she steadfastly embraced higher education.
“We were nearly complete with high school when my mother would be sitting at the table at night, doing her homework out of determination to get her degree and become a classroom teacher,” Green said.
By and large, the foundation for which her mother laid, particularly as it relates to advancing one’s education, served as a motivational force for Green who, upon earning her Master’s degree in Education, had later became certified to teach in 2004 through Letourneau University in Houston.
The rest, as they say, is history.
She’s been teaching ever since, even after calling it a career in the classroom.
FOLLOW AUTHOR PORTIA: http://www.portiamcgowan.com/.
“Nearly all of my family members, far and near, are educators,” Green said with such dignity and pride.
All while still having a monumental impact on children from various walks of life.
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Andre Johnson is Founder and Publisher for Making Headline News. A 2000 graduate of the University of Memphis School of Journalism and a former staff reporter the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper, Johnson covers the NBA Southwest Division from Dallas, Texas. To reach Johnson, send an email to [email protected]. Also, follow him on Twitter @AJ_Journalist.
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