A Stuttgart, Germany, teacher who was named Department of Defense Education Activity’s 2010 Teacher of the Year will now vie for a national title.

Susan Morris teaches social studies and Advancement via Individual Determination to 7th and 8th graders at Boeblingen Elementary and Middle School in Stuttgart.

She will now go up against teachers across the U.S. and its territories in the National Teacher of the Year competition, a project of the Council of Chief State School Officers. She would become the first DODEA teacher to receive the honor.

President Barack Obama will announce the winner in April.

"I’m extremely happy to be able to represent our heroes and their families," Morris said after winning the DODEA competition.

Morris was nominated after a parent wrote a letter to the principal praising Morris as a teacher.