“I used to be known as the perky, young teacher, but now I think it’s more like the quirky, older teacher.”

After 24 years at Caddo High School, Susan White has earned whatever moniker the students choose to give her.

Now, they can call her Bryan County Secondary Teacher of the Year.

White was just awarded the honor by the Bryan County Teacher’s Association after being nominated for the fourth time by her fellow teachers at Caddo Schools.

“It’s very much an honor to be recognized by your local peers and then countywide,” White said. “That’s makes it even more special.”

What would her students say about her?

“It probably depends on what day it is,” she laughed.

“I don’t think they would say I’m a hard teacher, but I’m driven and I have very high expectations,” she said. “They probably think I’m a slave driver, but I think they know that I’m fair and I just expect them to do the best that they can.”

White’s schedule is very busy at the school, as she handles several subjects in grades 7-12.

“Currently, I teach English I and II, Computers I and II, do the yearbook and the newspaper, and teach seventh- and eighth-grade Computer Literacy and Introduction to Keyboarding,” she said.

She has also taught accounting and business classes at the school and constantly reminds herself it is her goal to prepare students for the business world they will encounter later in life.

“I feel a definite responsibility in trying to prepare them for the future, not just a day-to-day thing,” White said. “I want them to be productive citizens as they go out into the work world.”

“I was primarily a business major and that’s still ingrained in me. We are producing future citizens and employees, and I expect them to leave here with the kind of education that will help them as they enter their adult lives.”

She looks at her role more as a presenter of knowledge to the kids that have made their way through her classroom.

“Teaching is not so much that you get up there and teach, you more of a facilitator,” she said. “You present the information and then they pick it up and they’re supposed to do something with it.”

“You can’t just open their little heads up and pour it in. They’ve got to do something with it once it gets to a certain point.”

White refuses to consider herself a good teacher, because she doesn’t want to get lazy with her job or her students.

“If you feel like your good then you kind of quit trying. I always want to feel like I’ve got to try harder.”