Chelsea Shanks: Teachers Touching Lives Finalist

Teachers Touching Lives

      

Mrs. Shanks is my son’s special education teacher. Noah has Sensory Processing Disorder which comes with a learning disability. Mrs. Shanks has a precious group of 14 students in the 4th and 5th grade. This year has been especially hard for all teachers. But that has not caused Mrs. Shanks to not inspire learning, drive her students to be independent, and create an environment where they feel loved and important. For us, the time not in school was devastating. My child has struggled to write, read, and comprehend math. His was progressing so much when everything came to a stop last March. And the regression for him was bad. But when he was able to return to traditional class, Mrs. Shanks dove right in and got Noah back up to where he left off last March. She did this while also assuring us that our son would do great. Now Noah can write independently and legibly. He is reading so much and comprehends it! And gradually, math is starting to make sense to him. But what touches me so much is he has found the subject that is really his passion and that is Social Studies. Mrs. Shanks has made this subject fun and interesting much like every subject she teaches. Noah is excited about each new topic that they learn about in class. He is inspired to work hard and to push himself where he has weaknesses. What amazes me is that she has many children all with different needs. She has a plan for each of them. She has high expectations for each of them. And I don’t think there is one child that has come through her class that hasn’t benefited and grown under her leadership. We are blessed that she is part of our village. I believe she deserves so much recognition for her tireless work in Special Education.

Nominated by: Cheryl Humpherys, parent of student

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