Featured Educator

Mary Newsom - CEO and Founder of Systems III

“One common mistake some teachers make is listening to the comments other teachers make about students.”

Mary Thomas Newsom is a sage on the stage and a guide on the side. She has taught every grade from first through sixth, worked as a counselor for both elementary and secondary levels and been a school administrator and an educational consultant.

She’s no longer in the classroom, but now teaches in a larger forum. Newsom designs and delivers training programs to help improve the educational experience for teachers, students, parents and administrators. She is the CEO and founder of Systems III, the educational consulting firm she operates with her husband, Leslie ‘Boh’ Newsom. Systems III offers training on topics such as differentiating instruction, strategies for teaching diverse populations, working with at-risk students, managing difficult students, safe school policies, communicating across cultures, keeping students motivated and the role of expectations on student achievement to everyone who works in schools or school districts, and to the private sector, as well. She has several publications including Surefire Ways to Empower Students and A Guide to Participating in Your Child’s Academic Success.

As an expert educator, Newsom has ideas for how teachers can sharpen their practice. “One common mistake some teachers make is listening to the comments other teachers make about students,” she said. Newsom believes that the troublemaker from the fourth grade does not automatically have to become the troublemaker of the fifth grade. “I would encourage teachers to give every student a fresh start.” At the beginning of the school year, she recommends teachers to “Get to know every child and let every child get to know you. Find at least one strength in each student and build on it.”

Newsom knew she was destined for teaching ever since elementary school. “At first, I wanted to be a nun,” she said, “but even then, I pictured myself as a nun teaching school.” Discovering boys altered that picture for her, and she decided to discard the nun part of the goal and keep the teaching part. Still, her devotion remains evident in the passion that fuels her work. She states, “I challenge every teacher not just to make life better for a child, but to make it wonderful!” Newsom says when she asks audiences to recall their favorite teacher, she wants YOU to be the teacher whose name they call out. Learn more about Mary Newsom and Systems III at www.Systemsiii.com.