Local Teacher Honored for Career Education Efforts

By Misty Cryer

Recognized in Carlsbad’s 40 Under 40 in 2024 and featured in a Teacher Spotlight published by the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association (NMOGA) in 2025, the community of Carlsbad is likely familiar with Hannah VanScotter, a local educator at Carlsbad High School.

At the New Mexico Association for Career and Technical Education (NMACTE) Conference in January, VanScotter was named NMACTE Career Technical Education (CTE) Teacher of the Year.

“I will go on to the Region IV ACTE conference at the end of April and go against the other state winners to possibly win the Region IV ACTE CTE Teacher of the Year,” she said.

VanScotter has been teaching for about 11 years. “I taught math and science for about eight years before transitioning into CTE and the position I’m in now,” she said.

While teaching math and science, VanScotter said she was always searching for something that she felt was missing. “Discovering CTE, and specifically the work of developing the Energy Pathway, was the moment I knew I was truly in the right place,” she said.

The Energy Pathway, as explained by VanScotter, is the oil and gas and renewable energy pathway at Carlsbad High School. “We are currently in year three of the program, and I’ve been working for about the last four years developing it with the help of my district and other teachers in the Permian Basin,” she said, explaining that teachers in New Mexico and Texas came together to develop project-based curriculum with the help of industry.

“I was the pilot teacher out of all of the teachers that kind of started at the same time,” said VanScotter. She said she started a semester ahead of everyone else, giving feedback and suggesting changes to make things work in the classroom for the first couple of years.

“Now I am the Energy Teacher Coach for the Permian Basin,” said VanScotter. In that role, she said, she helps other teachers teaching similar pathways in other schools by providing guidance on implementing the curriculum.

In the Teacher Spotlight, VanScotter is featured in a video, published by NMOGA (https://www.nmoga.org/teacher_spotlight_hannah_vanscotter), where she explains the Energy Pathway and how the collaboration between the CTE program and industry benefits students by bringing real-world authenticity to their studies.

Originally from Washington, with a background in geology, working in the oil and gas industry brought VanScotter to Carlsbad. “After I finished grad school for geology, I ended up moving down here to Carlsbad, and I worked in oil and gas as a mud logger, so I was working on active drilling rigs,” said VanScotter. “I was also working on my degree in secondary education, because in grad school, I kind of figured out that I really enjoyed teaching the geology labs and classes, so I wanted to explore that more,” she said.

“My husband, Edward VanScotter, he is Director of the museum here in town, and we have two daughters who are nine and five,” said VanScotter. “We ended up staying here and building our lives and careers here, even though we are both from Washington,” she said.

When starting undergraduate studies, VanScotter said she was originally pre-med. “I really enjoyed math and science,” she said. After high school, she said she worked as an EMT.

The realization that she wanted something different led her to discover environmental science and geology. “There was a lot of math and science involved, and then, I also have always loved being outside and hiking,” said VanScotter, adding that it was a perfect fit for her. “I ended up taking a geology class in college, and I just kept taking geology classes because I liked it a lot,” she said.

VanScotter said she earned a Bachelor of Science in Geology from Eastern Washington University, and she went to graduate school for one year at Western Washington University in Bellingham. After coming to Carlsbad, she got her education degrees. “I have a Master’s in Secondary Education from Grand Canyon University. I have an Education Specialist Degree, so a K-12 Leadership Degree as well,” she said.

In relation to receiving the NMACTE CTE Teacher of the Year award, VanScotter expressed appreciation to the district; the administrative team; MerriLee Saige with the NMACTE Leadership Fellow Program; her mentor, Michael Ogas; industry partners; her students, past and present; and her husband.

“I am proud to be part of CTE and grateful to be doing work that truly changes lives,” she said.