Dr. Loretta Hall-Martin is a retired Chicago Public School teacher, counselor, assistant principal, driver education director, and coordinator of the city-wide Safety and Driver Education program.  She was the only woman in the nation to hold the top administration position in Driver Education and her safety tips continue to be used in driver education textbooks today. During her 34 years with the CPS she also taught part-time at Northeastern Illinois University, at the Center for Inner City Studies, at Northwestern University Traffic Safety School, “The Pep Program” with the University of Chicago, The Principal Scholars Program with the University of Illinois and at the Sinai Parenting Institute.  Her post-graduate studies were achieved from Roosevelt and at Americus Universities. 

 

Loretta co-authored a parenting book in 2006 with her cousin, Brenda Jenkins, titled “He is Not Left Behind . . . He is with Me”.  This book was written to help parents of all educational levels to understand the fundamentals of parenting and to improve their parenting skills.

 

She has been a licensed Illinois State Certified Addictions Counselor for over 25 years and currently attends monthly training sessions to keep abreast of current issues in this field of study.

 

         Loretta is one of the last of the “old school” educators who is still in touch with hundreds of her former students from the Chicago Park District, three high schools: Wendell Phillips-23 years, South Shore-2 years, and Simeon-4 years. Loretta attends all of the Phillips class reunions and is often invited to serve as the keynote speaker at many of these events.  She saw how much financial hardships the students had so she started a scholarship fund in 1982. That scholarship continues today and is called The Hall-Martin Legacy Scholarship, Inc. It is presented to college-bound graduates of Phillips Academy High School.

 

Loretta has received numerous awards over the years including:

 

• Community Mental Health Council Leadership Awards 10 yr. Bd. Member

• The University of Chicago- Blum Kovler Award - 1988

• The Chicago Police Department- We Care Role Model Award - Oct. 1990

• Delta Sigma Theta Top Ticket Seller, Ebony Fashion Show, Jet Magazine June 7, 2007.

• The Top Ladies of Distinction – Orchid Award-2009

• The International League of Muslim Women Inc. Exemplary Service-2012

• Love and Move – Education and Entertainment Award- March 28, 2015

• UNIA-ACL Chicago Women of Achievement Award – March 29, 2015

 

         Loretta now teaches adults Line Dancing to raise funds for the scholarships that are awarded to Phillips graduating seniors and relatives of current Line Dancers. Her class recently gave a repeat performance at a Chicago Bulls game but more importantly, her students are living healthy lifestyles.

• The famous Line Dance “Flashin” created by Loretta has gone viral in 2015.

• She is seen weekly on Channel 19 in Chicago on “Can I Step with You?”

• She performs yearly in “Serendipity, Seniors on Stage” for senior citizens.

• She teaches dancing for the city of Chicago for Chicago Summer Dance.

• She is a former dancer with the Swingin’ Seniors for Chicago Bulls games (see Steve Harvey Swingin’ Seniors and her solo performance on Footwork - Feb. 2012)

 

An active member at Trinity United Church of Christ and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Loretta continues to be a role model for her former students, current students, and friends. Her family consists of her husband Calvin Muhammad, 5 adult children, 8 grandchildren, 5 great-grandchildren, and a host of extended family and friends. She continues to be a world traveler who enjoys life to the fullest. She plans to continue her travels once it is safe to do so after the Covid19 pandemic.  This role model for the young, who say, “I want to be like Loretta Martin when I grow up” is now setting the example for senior citizens who have earned the right (like Loretta) to be healthy, happy, and too busy to be idle in this ever-changing world.