Hui Couch, a 9th-grade Algebra teacher at Newcomer Academy in Louisville, Kentucky, is the recipient of our November 2025 Honored National Teaching Award. She was nominated for this award by the Modern Classrooms Project, a nonprofit organization that equips teachers to redesign their classrooms with blended, self-paced, mastery-based practices that personalize learning and strengthen student engagement. To help share the impact of Hui’s teaching, we are joined today by three of her students, Juan, Obama, and Kelia.

You'll hear about:

- Hui Couch's journey to becoming a teacher.

- The impact Hui has had on her students.

- How Hui utilizes the Modern Classrooms Project method to teach her Algebra class with nine home languages.

- Hui's dedication to equipping her students with lifelong skills such as empathy, independence, and resiliency.

You'll also hear from Kareem Farah, the CEO and Co-Founder of the Modern Classrooms Project, as he shares about a teacher who left an incredible impact on their journey in our segment "Teachers Who Inspired". Kareem began his career as a high school math teacher in Hawaii and Washington, DC. Instead of using a traditional lecture model, Kareem taught mathematics through a blended model where students accessed content through his self-made videos.

In 2018, he received the DC Public Schools Award for Classroom Innovation and was featured in Edutopia and CBS News for his work. In an effort to scale his classroom model, Kareem co-founded the Modern Classrooms Project. As CEO, he has led the organization to become a nationally recognized leader in instructional innovation, training, and supporting over 20,000 educators across diverse schools and districts.

Links Mentioned:

- Read more about Hui Couch's story: https://www.honored.org/honoree/hui-couch

- Nominate a teacher for our Honored National Teaching Award: https://www.honored.org/nominate/

- Learn more about the Modern Classrooms Project: https://www.modernclassrooms.org/

- Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/honored/

- Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@honoredteachers

- Follow us on X: https://x.com/honored/

- Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Honored.org/

- Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/honored.org

Episode Music Credits:

- Music by DanaMusic: https://pixabay.com/users/danamusic-31920663/

- Music by AudioCoffee: https://www.audiocoffee.net/