Ms. Shavawn Simmons

Hello and Welcome!

 

Regardless of how you arrived at my website, I am happy you chose to stop by.  I have been an educator for twenty-two years. For someone that tried very hard to run away from the "family business", here I am! Both of my parents were educators.  We joke that my mom was the only one of us (Dad, my brother, and me) who actually began her journey knowing she wanted to become a teacher.  As for me, I began my professional career in the corporate sector working for Xerox, First Chicago,  and Armstrong Cork, just to name a few.  I was educated at Fisk University in Nashville, TN  following a year at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, NC.  (The campus was just too big; plus all the native North Carolinians went home on the weekend. I am from Florida, so no going home for me).  Nine years after getting my undergraduate degree from Fisk University in Business Management, I took a year off work and returned full-time to graduate school at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. There I earned a Master's in Advertising. Some may say how does a girl get from Business to Advertising to Teaching? The process is one of direction: the intersection of skills and passion.  The fit finally seemed obvious...Education!

 

Regardless of my path to get here, I am pleased with the contributions of service I have provided to my students and their families. In 2011, I added Mercer University to my educational background earning a Specialist Degree in Education.  Next stop, a doctoral program in Reading with a specialty in Adolescent Literature/Education.

 

Coming from a line of educators and being a teacher's kid (TK, for short), my education philosophy is pretty straight forward. Do your best! This was my mom's mantra whenever I tried to negotiate her minimum expectation of my grades. She out-smarted me by always stating the obvious: DO YOUR BEST! And this is my expectation for my students. You should be able to ask yourself:  Is this my BEST WORK?

 

Quite frankly, I actually loved school. Still do. I could probably become a professional student, if I could make a living at it. The idea of learning is really cool to me. I guess that's the nerd side of me. Filling the brain with new information! To my students who find learning difficult, I’d like to share a story with you. I worked hard. I studied hard. I took copious notes. I practiced. What I am saying is...yes, I loved school probably the way some of you love your favorite sport, favorite music, or favorite make-up line. I trained myself to be great! So even if this sport of education is not your favorite, train yourself to be great. This way you will have a better shot at getting where you REALLY WANT TO BE! High school is the last stop at the station before life starts moving you as fast as the water rapids in North Georgia. In order to stay on the raft and return to the dock you must apply skill, maintain focus, and listen to the pros. This is how you become GREAT!

 

On the other hand, I am quite creative! I love the arts--all kinds of art, from fine art to contemporary, from cartoons to my student's caricatures of their favorite (or not so favorite) teachers! I love music--again most kinds! Clean rap is cool. I love the beats, even if I don't understand what's being said. From classical to new age, with R and B, gospel, and Latin thrown in...I am a cultural maven--(look it up).

 

This said, I am still "old school." I expect my classroom to be orderly, yet creative; my students to be respectful, yet individual. I expect my students' parents and/or guardians to participate in their child's learning. Yes! They are in 10th grade but they still need you, regardless of what they say! Remember: they are teenagers. And as I tell them, their job is to be rebellious...my job is to PUSH BACK. The synergy of growth.....the rites of passage......

 

So welcome again! Let's create, pontificate, and raise the level of expectation so that if we don't reach the stars, the moon is not far away!

 

Love,

Ms. Simmons