This year Montevallo High School welcomes two new teachers, Susan Ham and Arthur Nelson.
    Ham will be teaching special education and academic enhancement. She attended Wetumpka High School and Auburn University at Montgomery for elementary and special education. She has been teaching for 22 years, most of those inShelbyCounty.
    “I wanted to be a teacher from the time I was a little girl,” Ham said. “I loved school and played school a lot. I never thought about becoming anything else.”
    Ham said that her goals for the 2011-2012 school year are to help her students to be successful in their classes and to help them maintain good grades.
    When asked what her first initial impression of MHS was, she said that it is a friendly place with great students, faculty, staff and administration.
    “As the school year continues I hope to get involved in other activities because I enjoy the interaction with students,” Ham said.   
    Ham’s only child, Mary Beth, passed away six years ago from leukemia. Her free time away from school is spent enjoying craft-making and swimming.
    Nelson will be teaching special education and distance learning. He attended Jefferson Davis High School and Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (AAMU) for a Collaborative 6-12 degree. He previously taught atIsabellaHigh School.
    “Both of my parents were educators,” Nelson said. “My grandmother was a school teacher and my great-grandmother taught adult education classes. These people played a big part in my decision to become an educator.”
    Nelson said that everyone at MHS has been very welcoming.
    “I hope to become a model for excellence in education on the local, state, national, and international level while providing students with the best education and expecting greatness on all levels of education,” Nelson said.
    Nelson has a one year old son named Peyton.
    “He is the best gift in the world to me,” Nelson said.
    In his spare time, Nelson enjoys playing golf, pool and basketball.