Host Lori Burkart Frank leads our discovery of the life and times of Susan Clarabut, a woman with education in her blood;  Grandmother, Mom, Aunts and Uncles were all teachers. A former teacher, principal and Assistant Superintendent, she was elected to the Nevada County Board of Education in 2020. Susan would probably never have left her work in a one-room school in the Redwoods, but her husband was transferred here in his work with CalFire and they’ve adapted well and lived in Nevada County for 40 years. Her time as a waitress taught her a great deal about getting along with people. Like many other teachers, she says teaching kids is the easy part of the job; dealing with all the other people involved, from parents to administrators, sometimes not so much! Heartfelt memories include an eighth grader telling her the book they’d read was the first one he ever finished. For Susan, education is about connection and trust. She now is very involved with teacher induction, mentoring new teachers coming into Nevada County. She was appointed to temporarily fill a vacancy on the county Board, when seeing the need to keep our education free of biases and extraneous agendas convinced her—quite out of character--to stand for election to the Board of Education. Campaigning wasn’t fun, but others stepped up to help and she’s now glad she did it. She’s enjoying learning about the entire county and her board’s role in overseeing it’s nine independent school districts. Susan encourages parents and community members to come to meetings and bring concerns and ideas into the discussion. One of Susan’s favorite community involvements is working as Outreach Coordinator for the Sierra Wine and Grape Growers Association.