‘Momma Moore’: Silver Spring second-grade teacher, 82, honored by MCPS, National Education Association

55-year-career celebrated with assembly, $5K check

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May 6, 2026 11:13 a.m.

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For students at Greencastle Elementary School in Silver Spring who had Estelle Moore as a second-grade teacher, some of their favorite memories about their time in her classroom were the calm environment and her classroom store where they could buy prizes after being awarded play money for good behavior. 

Moore had a different impact on former student Shepherd Brown, whom Moore taught in 1987. He remembers how she served as another maternal figure who helped him work through his challenges.  

“I had ADD and I think she kind of recognized that, and had a conversation with my mom,” Brown, who now works as an accountant for NASA, told Bethesda Today on Tuesday. “It really just helped springboard me into understanding that, hey, I may have this kind of challenge, but it won’t stop me from being good in life.” 

Brown was one of many people, including National Education Association (NEA) President Becky Pringle and Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Superintendent Thomas Taylor, who came to celebrate Moore, also known as Momma Moore, during a surprise Tuesday morning school assembly for the veteran educator of over 50 years. 

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The impact Moore made on students like Brown throughout her 52 years at Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), and three in Pennsylvania schools, has kept her going throughout her career.   

“Since the age of 4, people would say, ‘Estelle, what do you want to be when you grow up?’ I said a teacher,” Moore told reporters. “I still want to be a teacher. That’s the greatest position that I know. I love what I do.” 

Moore, 82, was honored on National Teacher Appreciation Day, as part of the NEA’s annual National Teacher Appreciation Week, which runs through Friday. Officials began the by recognizing classrooms with high attendance rates, as Moore sat unaware of the celebration to come.  

Then cheers from students and Moore’s fellow teachers alike echoed in the cafeteria as Moore’s loved ones were revealed and she was  presented with a $5,000 check in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week. 

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“I don’t say it lightly when I say you take care of everyone,” Greencastle Principal Kurshanna Dean told Moore during the assembly.  

Pringle said Moore was selected for her longevity in the classroom and her ability to create a safe space for students to learn. 

“Even with her focus being on making sure that every one of her students is successful … she also knows to do her job. She needs the resources to do that,” Pringle said. “[Teachers] love the apples and we love the mugs and even sometimes perfume … [but] think about what action you can take, too.”  

After the assembly, Moore said her class was a family,  and introduced each of her students one by one to visitors on Tuesday as they worked quietly. For fifth grader Emmanuel Oaskwe, that calm environment Moore fostered helped him to learn when he was a student in her second-grade classroom. 

“She helped me with everything,” Emmanuel told reporters. “I felt welcome in her class … She was calm, her class was very peaceful.”  

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Moore said she has no intention of slowing down. 

“I intend to be here more years ahead. I’d like to reach 90 and be the oldest teacher in Montgomery County. It is good to be surrounded by people you love, and those same people love you back,” Moore said. “This is our future, and I’m glad to be a part of it.”  

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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine