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Instructor Hits a High Note: Macomb County Educator is Named District's High School Teacher of the Year

Posted on: Thursday, 11 May 2006, 06:07 CDT

By Dan Cortez, Detroit Free Press

May 11--In the past year Susan Catanese has seen her choir students at Dakota High School in Macomb Township traverse the country and state with their talents.

She just returned from New York, where her students explored the city and took in a couple of Broadway performances.

Two of her students were selected to perform this weekend at the Michigan Youth Arts Festival in Kalamazoo.

Also this weekend, some of her students will sing in Mt. Clemens as part of the Macomb County Festival of Arts.

Catanese, 52, of Clinton Township also found time to pick up the high school teacher of the year award from the Macomb Intermediate School District.

"I love to expose them to things beyond their walls," Catanese said. "So the kids would know there is a whole world out there beyond Macomb, Michigan."

Catanese juggles six choir groups and about 120 students. Her day usually starts at the school at 7 a.m. and stretches to 5:30 p.m. But she said the long days are worth it.

"Choir feels like a family and everyone feels like an important, contributing member," said Catanese, who has been a teacher for 29 years. "They thrive here."

The district also recognized two other Macomb County teachers:

* Kathy Clor, whose efforts to make learning more exciting for her seventh-grade students at Seneca Middle School in Clinton Township helped her to win the award for middle school teacher of the year.

Clor, 47, of Washington Township has taught language arts and social studies for 12 years at Seneca. She said she has learned that children are more likely to be interested in school when they learn in an interactive setting.

"What I try to do is I try to make an activity they're involved in and they're getting up and moving," Clor said. "I try to integrate artwork and food, because they love food."

The district gave Clor a $1,500 gift certificate for professional development. She said she plans to look for a seminar in a warm-weather location, and one that promotes creative learning.

"I just want to make teaching fun," she said. "I feel it can be fun. I'm always trying to develop units that are high-interest."

* Melody Perrin of the Bovenschen School in Warren, who was awarded for her work with grade-school students who have severe multiple disabilities.

Beyond teaching math and science, Perrin, 53, teaches several of her students how to communicate and interact with other children and helps increase their self-esteem.

"Somebody has to develop them and bring them out," said Perrin of Clinton Township, who has worked with students as young as 3. "We work a lot on communication, on independence and having the kids become mobile."

But Perrin isn't only teaching children. She uses her 31 years of experience to help parents understand their children.

"A lot of the parents don't even know what to do with their children," she said. "I find myself working a lot with the parents, teaching them how to have their children be more independent."

Contact DAN CORTEZ at 586-469-1827 or dcortez@freepress.com.

photo

Susan Catanese, 52, of Clinton Township rehearses with the varsity choir Wednesday at Dakota High School in Macomb Township. She has been a teacher for 29 years. (HUGH GRANNUM/Detroit Free Press)

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Copyright (c) 2006, Detroit Free Press

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Source: Detroit Free Press

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