MBJH’s Culbreth mentors teachers, brings innovative techniques to state

As the staff development specialist at Mountain Brook Junior High, Suzanne Culbreth works with administrators and teachers as she facilitates professional development. During her time at MBJH, Culbreth has mentored new teachers and worked with current them as they implement the College and Career Ready Standards and develop engaging lessons integrating cooperative learning and technology.

In early June, Culbreth attended a Laying the Foundation program in Indianapolis that is put on by the National Math and Science Initiative through the A+ College Ready Partnership. The goal of A+ College Ready in Alabama is to increase the number of students, both urban and rural, enrolled and successful in AP classes. Culbreth has been learning how to “train the trainers” to integrate calculus concepts and vocabulary into their math lessons beginning as early as the seventh and eighth grades. For the remainder of June, she traveled around Alabama to train geometry teachers specifically to integrate these concepts into their lessons. 

In July, Culbreth attend the National Network of State Teachers of the Year conference in Salt Lake City. Culbreth was selected to present on “Encouraging Teachers to be Innovators,” a talk that features Mountain Brook’s Innovation Institute. 

Culbreth grew up in Grant, Alabama, and earned a degree in secondary education for biology and math at Auburn University. She has taught at Homewood, Opelika, Oak Mountain and Spain Park before coming to MBJH in 2013 — her first step out of the classroom after 30 years of teaching. Derek Deerman, assistant principal at MBJH, was one of her former students, along with technology coordinator Suzan Brandt. Suzanne is married to James, and has two daughters, Bethany and Jordyn. She was the 1999 Milken Educator of the Year and the 2013 Alabama Teacher of the Year. 

-Submitted by Collins Clegg