Claes Nobel Educators of the Year

NSHSS is pleased to highlight our 2013 Claes Nobel Educators of the Year, presented to ten exemplary educators who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to preparing students for success in college and in life. These ten educators are among NSHSS’s student-nominated Claes Nobel Educators of Distinction program that recognizes educators who model best practices in teaching, are a positive influence for students and peers, and who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and excellence in education, as well as community engagement. Since the inception of the Educators of Distinction program in 2004, NSHSS has recognized more than 38,000 educators worldwide. 

Mrs. Susan New
English Teacher
Trinity High School, Euless, Texas

Mrs. Susan New was recently honored at the NSHSS member event held at The Carter Center in Atlanta as one of the 2013 Top Ten Claes Nobel Educators of the Year. In the sixteen years Mrs. New has worked in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District, she has been recognized as a Teacher of the Year Nominee, a Student-Nominated Baccalaureate Speaker, a Gifted and Talented Curriculum Designer for English II, and a Professional Development Coordinator and Administrator. Mrs. New has also received the Global Excellence Award, and she is a repeated recipient of the Distinguished Teacher Award of Excellence. She also served as the District Curriculum Writer during the summers of 2007 and 2012.

As a believer in the parallelism of education and inspiration, Mrs. New’s teaching philosophy is “The educator must inspire students to become scholarly world citizens. The quest to become a thoughtful intellectual begins with a spark. Educators spark the fire of imagination to dare, to dream, to innovate…to change the world.” Mrs. New has sponsored varies extracurricular organizations since she began her educational career at Bedford Junior High School, in which she served as the Student Council Sponsor, the New Teacher Mentor, the Spelling Bee Sponsor, and the Campus-based Crime Stoppers Sponsor. Mrs. New continues to cultivate student involvement by serving as the Class Council Sponsor and the Environment Club Sponsor in addition to teaching Pre-Advanced Placement (Pre-AP), Advanced Placement (AP), and International Baccalaureate (IB) Literature and Language Arts at Trinity High School. Her nominating student explains, “Mrs. New is not just an amazing teacher, but also a great person! She connects well with her students on multiple levels and cares about them as individuals. She helps broaden our horizons by encouraging us to think differently and creatively and also by giving us her insights on things. She deserves to be recognized for being a positive influence in the lives of her students! Thank you Mrs. New for being there for me!”

As Mrs. New recalls sharing her decision to pursue a career in education instead of law with her father, whom she describes as “a man of few words and sincere action” and her first and best educator, she is still invigorated by his response, “They may not remember everything you teach them, but they WILL remember how you treat them.” Fulfilling her father’s prophecy, Mrs. New describes her experiences, “After sixteen years of teaching, I have realized it all comes back to those magical moments in the classroom and the power of relationships. Most of all - THE LOVE. I love what I do. I love my students. Teaching is not my job - it is my JOY. I pray that my students are equipped to be life-long-learners. That the cycle will continue as they all become teachers to light the path for others.”