Susan Espiritu, owner/editor of Knox TN Today Inc. and a retired educator, was among the honorees at the 2025 Educators Hall of Honor awards ceremony held April 24, 2025, by the University of Tennessee College of Education, Health and Human Sciences.
Espiritu retired from Knox County Schools after 35 years, 16 as a school-level administrator. She was principal at Pond Gap Elementary when the school became the first university-assisted community school, partnering with Dr. Bob Kronick from UT and Randy Boyd. She was most recently principal at Sarah Moore Greene Magnet Academy.
She was voted by her peers as national principal of the year for Tennessee in 2012.
Her daughter Kalea Derry is a director of college and career for high school students at a local school. Her daughter Maria Haun has a doctorate in organizational management. “I pursued and received my DBA so I could teach high school and college students in the same manner she did.” Her son Billy Espiritu serves the community as a firefighter for Knoxville Fire Department.
Espiritu is known for using and developing innovative techniques to engage students of diverse ages, abilities and socioeconomic backgrounds. She finds new ways to impart knowledge in a fun environment.
Others in the Class of 2025 are the late Sarah DeYoung, Saundra McGuire, Sherry Morgan, David Royse, Kirsten Salonga, Marcia Goldenstein, Bob Kesling and Charmaine Mamantov.
Liv Detwiler was awarded the Educators Hall of Honor scholarship.
The Educators Hall of Honor was created in May 2002 by Glennon Rowell, dean of the College of Education. Funds raised from the program provide stipends for UT students engaged in the yearlong internship required for earning the master’s degree.
The Hall of Honor recognizes educators who have made a difference in the lives of their students.
