Susanne Frensley is the recipient of the 2008 Dolly Parton's Chasing Rainbows Award. She has taught grades 9-12 art history and social studies for 14 years at Hillsboro and Stratford Comprehensive High Schools in Nashville, TN. She was the 2007 Tennessee Teacher of the Year, is married, and has twin daughters.
Susanne's childhood was a very difficult and unhappy time in her life. Addiction and suicide were deep, dark family secrets that bred fear, anger, and shame in her young life. Her parents were ill and were not capable of protecting their own daughter. Times were so bad that, like so many young children, she blamed herself and sometimes wanted to die.
Dolly has always believed that children should use their imaginations, thus she created her Imagination Library, which reaches across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Susanne, like Dolly, used her imagination while growing up to create a world for herself that was safe, peaceful, and loving. Thus, most of her childhood was lived in fantasy. Although she found little love in her immediate family, there were other adults who loved her. Many of her teachers, whom she calls her “saving grace angels,” taught her that she had gifts, strengths, and talents to share with the rest of the world.
Her years of feeling abandoned and alone taught her that every child needs love and compassion. With God's help, she has overcome many obstacles and has grown stronger in becoming a better wife, mother, and teacher. She shows that the love and caring of a single person has the potential to
transform the life of another. This is why she respects, honors, and celebrates every student who walks into her classroom. She says that each moment she spends with her students is a joy. Her faith teaches her that we are truly fulfilled when we live a life that moves the current of God's love through us to others, and from others to us. In addition to love and compassion, her greatest gift to her students is to provide them with opportunities to explore their imaginations.
Susanne's life is a living example of the Chasing Rainbows Award. The difference she is making in the lives of many children is helping to fulfill Dolly's legend for children to: "dream more, learn more, care more, be more."
The Chasing Rainbows Award is presented personally by Dolly Parton at Dollywood and is a partnership between the National State Teachers of the Year organization and the Dollywood Foundation. NSTOY
members or state TOY finalists (past and present) may be nominated or self-nominated, or NSTOY members may endorse the nomination of a teacher who has overcome obstacles in his/her life and is making a
difference in the lives of children. Applications are due by April 1, 2009. E-mail: rogersmsedna@aol.com
