When Chris Shelton went to law school, her family teased her that she’d be the only lawyer to turn into a kindergarten teacher.
They weren’t too far off.
Two years ago, Shelton decided to enter the Teach for America program after practicing commercial litigation with Bryan Cave for four years. She became a sixth-grade math teacher at Westview Middle School in the Riverview Gardens School District. And this year, she was named the district’s Teacher of the Year.
“My true passion in life is helping children,” she said.
“I absolutely love forming relationships with my students, getting to know who they are as people, and learning about their aspirations in life. Seeing the smiling faces of my students is what motivates me to push harder and work to be better each and every day.”
This past fall, she initiated a Get Fit program for students who want to be active but aren’t necessarily into team sports. So far, she and two other teachers have rallied about 40 students, mostly sixth graders, to participate.
“I love working out, and I try to live a healthy lifestyle,” she said. “I wanted to bring that to my students as well.”
You don’t always have to run or join a sports team to exercise, she tells her students. They can hula hoop, dance or play other games. She herself loves “mud races,” which are obstacle courses that sometimes involve going through mud.
Through the Get Fit program, students can explore and find what form of exercise suits them best. The program leaders also talk to the students about eating healthy. Aside from Get Fit, Shelton also teaches the girls’ basketball team.
“The first year was tough,” she said. “The girls didn’t have much experience playing, and they had a losing season.”
However, the girls who struggled last year came back stronger and better, she said, and this year the team had a winning season. This year they also got uniforms, a change from the regular T-shirts and shorts they wore last year.
“When you look good, you play better,” she said. “The girls truly appreciated and loved it.”
Growing up, Shelton learned how to play basketball in the alleys with her male cousins, she said. But she didn’t start playing organized basketball until sixth grade, just like many of her students.
A St. Louis Public Schools graduate, Shelton attended Saint Louis University, where she studied business administration and played on the varsity women’s basketball team. She earned her law degree from Howard University.
After four years with Bryan Cave, she decided to she wanted to be a teacher. Some of her friends had told her about Teach For America, and the program made it easy for her transition into teaching, she said.
What she’s learned so far is that her students like active learning.
“I can’t have them just sitting down,” she said. “I have to show how the lessons apply to real life. They call me a big kid. I might role-play something out or dress up in a costume. They don’t know what Miss Shelton might do on a particular day.”
Riverview Gardens School District is currently unaccredited, and in order to be a high-performing district, teachers and administrators need to rethink their strategy, she said.
This year the district sponsored a trip for teachers to visit the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, a suggestion from another Teach for America instructor at Riverview Gardens. The teaching strategy at Ron Clark is centered on making school a place where students want to be.
“The teachers and students sing and dance,” Shelton said. “There is a slide in the middle of the foyer. That is what the district is going to have to do – use out-of-the-box strategies to turn the district around.”
In May, Shelton will complete her two years with Teach for America, but she said she will remain with Westview again next year. Westview’s principal Valeska Hill is endlessly supportive of the staff, Shelton said, and the teachers support each other as well.
“I am passionate about the work I do,” she said. “God has blessed me to allow me to do what I love for a living.”
