Shanna Peeples, the 2015 National Teacher of the Year, took the road less travelled on the way to her classroom. She worked as a disc jockey, medical assistant, and journalist before teaching, as she says, chose her. Shanna taught middle and high school English in low-income schools in Amarillo, Texas for 14 years. Currently, Shanna is an Equity and Access Fellow in residency at the Council of Chief State School Officers to complete a doctorate in Education Leadership at Harvard Graduate School of Education. At Harvard, she was a Teaching Fellow and is part of two teams: one, an education startup for STEM learning, the other, a leadership consultancy.
Shanna Peeples, the 2015 National Teacher of the Year, took the road less travelled on the way to her classroom.
She worked as a disc jockey, medical assistant, and journalist before teaching, as she says, chose her.
Shanna taught middle and high school English in low-income schools in Amarillo, Texas for 14 years. Because Amarillo is a resettlement area for refugees, students as diverse as the Karen people of Myanmar to the Bantu people of Somalia, make up classes in her former assignment at Palo Duro High School.
Currently, Shanna is an Equity and Access Fellow in residency at the Council of Chief State School Officers to complete a doctorate in Education Leadership at Harvard Graduate School of Education. At Harvard, she was a Teaching Fellow and is part of two teams: one, an education startup for STEM learning, the other, a leadership consultancy.
A former reporter for the Amarillo Globe-News, Shanna won awards for reporting on health issues, schools, and music criticism. Her writing has appeared in Education Leadership, Education Week, the Washington Post and the New York Observer; currently, she writes for multiple publications on Medium.
Her book, Think Like Socrates: Invite Wonder and Empathy Into the Classroom, was chosen by the National Education Association Foundation and PDK International for their membership.