Corpus Christi Caller Times, TX
July 13 2005
Local teacher to share knowledge in Armenia
Carroll’s Ransleben is among 15 from U.S. selected for program
By mike baird Caller Times
July 13, 2005
A local teacher is packing chalk, erasers, and markers into a cowboy
hat, alongside photos of the Alamo, a handful of cotton bolls rolled
in a Texas-shaped throw blanket, and a Lone Star flag to tote to
Armenia. Suzanne D. Ransleben, an English teacher at Carroll High
School, is planning curriculum over the Internet with 14 other U.S.
educators to share regional Americana with Eurasian students.
She squinted her eyes and grimaced Tuesday when jabbed in the arm to
be immunized for an Oct. 2 trip as the only Texan selected for the
2005 United StatesEurasian Awards for Excellence in Teaching program.
She will teach there for three weeks.
“You could have bowled me over with a feather,” said Ransleben, a
57-year-old Portland native. “Representing Texas makes me want to do
big things to show our lifestyle.”
The U.S. State Department is funding travel for the program that
fosters connections between U.S. teachers and schools in the former
Soviet Union.
But Ransleben is digging into her own pocketbook to provide school
supplies for each foreign student she will embrace. “Armenia is one
of the poorest areas of Eurasia,” she said. “It’s become an ongoing
budget item in my household.”
Forty-eight teachers from Eurasia arrived today in Washington, D.C.,
for a weeklong tour before they travel on July 21 to California to
meet the American teachers in the program.
Ransleben says international education is essential for her local
students. “They need to know Corpus Christi is a speck on the map,”
she said. “But they can still be a vital part of the rest of the
world.”
Suzanne Demouche Ransleben
Born: Nov. 12, 1947
Education
1965 – Gregory-Portland High School
1968 – Bachelor of Arts in English/Music, Southwest Texas State
University
1996 – Master of Science in Education, Texas A&M University-Corpus
Christi
Honors and Awards
1990 – U.S. Congressional recognition Teacher of the Year, Kaffie
Middle School
1991 – First Place Texas Media Awards
1993 – First Place Texas Media Awards
1994 – Teacher of the Year, Carroll High School
1995 – CINDY International Film Award
1997 – Texas Academy of Math and Science Certificate of Appreciation
1997 – National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts Recognition
1998 – Coastal Bend History Fair Outstanding Teacher
2000 – Tufts University Special Recognition for Outstanding Teaching
2003 – H-E-B Excellence in Teaching Award finalist
2004 – USA Today All USA Teacher Team
2005 – H-E-B Excellence in Teaching Award finalist
2005 – U.S.-Eurasia Award for Excellence in Teaching