Portrait of a Future Teacher
By: Paige Perigo
Hannah Shelly, a hardworking senior at Ohio University is getting a glimpse of the real world this quarter. Instead of sitting through classes, she is leading them. While most of her student counterparts are still sleeping, Hannah is awake and on her way to her real world “job”. She is getting a taste of life after college by completing her student teaching at Federal Hocking High School.
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| The Shelly family posing outside during their Easter celebration in 2010 |
Growing Up
This future language arts teacher was born on February 21st, 1990 in Lancaster, Ohio. Hannah grew up in a close-knit family with her father and mother, Mel and Tammy, and her older brother Aaron. Hannah admits that her parents were her biggest role models growing up. She lovingly remembers her childhood and says, “My parents were strict with me, but they gave me the freedom to become who I wanted to be”
Hannah’s favorite memories growing up were the camping trips that her family took every summer. The Shelly’s traveled across the United States visiting locations such as Colorado, Maine, Wyoming and Florida.
High School
During her high school years, Hannah was very active in extracurricular activities. While attending school at Berne Union High School, she was involved in marching and concert band, cross country and track, and the honor society.
While growing up, Hannah always knew that she wanted to become a teacher. Her mother and all of her aunts were teachers at some point so she jokingly points out that she was more than a little influenced to become an educator by them! However, while in high school she made the decision to become a language arts teacher. Hannah recalls that a very talented high school English teacher was the educator who prompted her decision to choose language arts as her content area.
| Favorite Color | Pink |
| Favorite Food | Mexican |
| Favorite Movie | 27 Dresses |
| Place you want to visit in your lifetime | Greece |
| Biggest fear | Dying |
College
When it came time to choose a college, Hannah followed another family tradition. She chose Ohio University because her brother, Aaron, had been a Bobcat and also because the campus was close enough that she could easily make the trip back home to Lancaster but far enough away to feel like she was on her own and having her own college experience.
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| Hannah and her fiancé Jeff Pressdee at his graduation from basic training in South Carolina. |
Hannah is also involved in several activities at Ohio University. The activities she is involved in are directly related to her passion for teaching. She is the secretary for the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and is involved in the C.A.R.E partnership.
The C.A.R.E partnership is a program that pairs a prospective teacher with a professional educator in a real classroom. Hannah describes C.A.R.E as, “a partnership that allows students to learn democratic methods of teaching.” This partnership allows future educators to get even more experience than a normal education major because they complete field observation hours every quarter starting their sophomore year.
Hannah has enjoyed all of her years at Ohio University but she says that her senior has been the most eventful. In the fall before school started, she received the Dean’s Scholarship.
Also, this past Christmas Hannah received a very exciting gift. Her boyfriend, Jeff Pressdee, proposed to her on Christmas Eve. Hannah and Jeff are college sweethearts and met during their freshman year at OU.
Student Teaching and Life after College
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| Hannah and Jeff pose before a night out. |
Student teaching has been the other major event in Hannah’s life this year. She is in charge of 10th grade students at Federal Hocking High School. She is also involved in a reading workshop that includes grades 9-12. Hannah says that the experience has taught her many things about being a teacher. She described some of things that she has learned so far and they included classroom management and balancing the grading load. She is currently developing her own grading system that she hopes to hone throughout her experience.
When asked if she had any advice for other education majors who will be student teaching soon, Hannah said, “Don’t get too worked up! Just be confident. I jumped in head first and put all my nerves behind me, and I think that was the best decision I could have made.”
Hannah’s plans after graduation in June 2012 are to find a job close to her parent’s house so she can stay with them during her first year of teaching. Hannah is co-residing with her parents so that she can save money for her and Jeff’s wedding, which is planned for the summer of 2013.
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