Suellen Shaw, a member of the Central Kentucky Music Teachers Association (CKMTA), has been named the 2020 Teacher of the Year by the Kentucky Music Teachers Association (KMTA). Her selection was announced at the Association’s annual conference, held virtually this year, on September 25.
Born in Columbus, Georgia, Suellen Shaw is the daughter of a Baptist minister and an elementary school teacher. She studied privately with Shirley Chiles Humphreys and with Dr. Maurice Hinson at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, and later earned a Bachelor of Arts from Campbellsville College (now University).
Suellen has taught piano independently in Campbellsville, Kentucky since 1970. Her students have won prizes in numerous KMTA and CKMTA Music Festivals, KMTA Competitions and Honors Recitals, and the Distinguished Young Women (formerly Junior Miss) programs. Her former student, Emily Cox, was named Miss Kentucky. Suellen has a great passion for motivating students to both love music and perform with excellence. Many former students have gone on to earn university degrees in music and some have become university professors, judges, church music directors, and teachers in public school education.
Suellen has served as Treasurer of the local Central Kentucky Music Teachers Association since its founding in 1983, possibly the longest serving officer to stay in the same position in KMTA’s history. She has served additionally in local churches as pianist and organist. Her musical contribution to the Campbellsville community has been far reaching and is highly valued by all.
Her husband, Charles, is retired from the Kentucky Department of Education, where he taught adult education and emergency service. They have one son, Scotty, and were guardians of Billy, Johnny, and Molly Hubbard, whom they count as their own. Six grandchildren have since followed.
The Central Kentucky Music Teachers Association serves Campbellsville and surrounding counties. It offers annual music festivals and special programs. The Association is affiliated with the Kentucky Music Teachers Association and the Music Teachers National Association.
