Susan Mitchell of Groves Elementary School named District Teacher of the Year
From Humble ISD:
Susan Mitchell of Groves Elementary School named District Teacher of the Year
By Joshua Koch | April 28, 2023
Susan Mitchell of Groves Elementary School named District Teacher of the Year and wins $10,000 check sponsored by Robbins Auto
Susan Mitchell, the librarian at Groves Elementary School, is the 2023-2024 Humble Independent School District and Elementary Teacher of the Year. Mitchell won a $10,000 check sponsored by Robbins Auto at the Humble ISD Education Foundation Boots and Bling Gala held at Stampede Houston on April 28.
Mitchell is in her 14th year in education and her second as a librarian after spending 12 years as a classroom teacher.
“The first thing you’re going to learn is that a librarian is a teacher,” Mitchell said. “That is still what I am and the library is the biggest classroom in the entire school. I teach every single student, all 1,100-plus of them. I have to get to know them all, I take that really seriously. I get to know the names of these kids. It’s not just about the curriculum, it’s about what I’m teaching them and making them happy.”
For Mitchell, the library is the heart of the school and the place where she gets to teach every single student in Groves Elementary. Not only that, but over the years Mitchell watches her kindergarten students grow up to be fifth graders and move on to middle school. The constant for their entire elementary school experience is Mitchell as their librarian.
But her job goes beyond just working with each and every student in Groves Elementary. Since she came from the classroom, Mitchell knows what teachers need and she is there every day to support them.
“My job isn’t just to teach the kids, it is to support the teachers,” Mitchell said. “I do make sure that I know what they are teaching so that I can be an extension of their classroom.”
Teresa Aranda, the dance teacher at Summer Creek High School, is the 2023-2024 Secondary Teacher of the Year. Aranda was the runner-up for the District Teacher of the Year honor and received a $5,000 check sponsored by Herff Jones.
Aranda is in her 17th year in education and her 13th at Summer Creek High School as the dance teacher. Aranda started the award-winning Summer Creek Starlettes dance team.
“Humble ISD is a great district to work for,” Aranda said. “I always only thought that core teachers got this. But for an elective teacher to get this and a dance teacher to get this is a huge deal.”
Growing up, Aranda’s mother was an educator herself. As a young girl, she remembers going up to her mother’s classroom where she taught typing and decorating her bulletin board to get ready for the new year. She remembers how much her students loved her mom.
That is where her love for teaching came from. The love for dancing came in high school when she became a member of the Galena Park High School Jacketeers. She danced through high school and became a captain her senior year.
“As an officer you teach your fellow members different routines and techniques,” Aranda said. “Just getting that experience told me you love this. You love teaching, you love being in front of your peers and you love dance.”
Aranda went on to San Jacinto Community College to dance before finishing at the University of Houston as a Cougar Doll. After college, in her first year of teaching at Galena Park High School, Aranda tried out and made the Houston Texans Cheerleaders team, which she performed with for five years including her first year of teaching at Summer Creek High School.
Since helping open Summer Creek High School and starting the Starlettes from scratch, there have been exciting moments along the way but at the end of the day – Teresa Aranda loves her students and what she does.
“Teaching is a rewarding profession,” she said. “For example, a kid can’t do a leap when they come in and then they get it – that face is everything.”
Each year during the spring semester, Humble ISD schools choose a Teacher of the Year for its campus. The 2023-2024 Finalists and District Teachers of the Year were chosen by a district selection committee based upon essays and interviews in March and April. All district Teacher of the Year Finalists will be honored on stage and walk away with a new laptop donated by GTS Technology Solutions, and additional incentives from Gulf Coast Educators Federal Credit Union.
The annual Boots & Bling Gala benefits the Humble ISD Education Foundation’s Innovative Education grant program, which has awarded $16.3 million in education grants since it was founded in 2000.
District Teacher of the Year Finalists are:
Elementary Finalists
Demetria Claybon - Autumn Creek Elementary, First Grade
Susan Mitchell - Groves Elementary, Librarian
Randi Cormier - North Belt Elementary, Fifth Grade Math & Science
Jennifer Eakin - Pine Forest Elementary, First Grade
Paul Touchstone - Willow Creek Elementary, Fifth Grade Math & Science
Secondary Finalists
Ciji Buchanan - Timberwood MS, 8th Grade Reading English and Language Arts
Michelle Smith - Atascocita Middle, 6th Grade World Cultures
Teresa Aranda - Summer Creek High School, Dance
Eric Coovert - Kingwood Park HS, Dual Credit & A.P. History
Kathleen Tansley - Kingwood HS, 10th Grade English
Susan Mitchell of Groves Elementary School named District Teache
