Spanish Teacher Shelley Thornton has been working at Fair Grove for 14 years, teaches many classes, and runs a few social media pages for the school.

“I started out with Spanish 1-4, then picked up Dual Credit Spanish 3 & 4, 8th Grade Explore Spanish, Introduction to Speech, and Stagecraft along the way,” Thornton stated.

Thornton also sponsors the Spanish club. She explained, “Some of our course objectives in the Spanish program are hard to accomplish within the classroom because they pertain to using Spanish in our personal lives outside of school. Spanish club gives students the opportunity to celebrate holidays or other cultural events and explore interests related to the Spanish- language and the Spanish-speaking world.”

Thornton also sponsors Culture Club. Culture Club is for students who enjoy educational travel opportunities overseas. These international trips bring classroom lessons to life for students. 

Some examples of experiences members of Culture Club get are, visiting government buildings and learning about politics in other countries, using other languages to communicate and navigate new areas, exploring historic cities, seeing world-famous artwork, and trying authentic cuisine. Students gain a new independence, confidence, and global-mindset that is often life-changing for them and their families. 

Thornton describes her day as being super busy but also so fun. “This is my first year to have a different class every hour (and one hour with two classes). There’s extra work that goes into that, but I’m really enjoying the variety. Sometimes when you teach the same thing several times throughout the day, it can feel redundant,” she described.

 Thornton added that she used to catch herself repeating the same stories throughout the day; this is not something she has to worry about anymore. “In addition to teaching fun classes, my students this year are all really fun, too, so I genuinely look forward to coming to school every day,” she continued.

Thornton stated that she loves teaching skills that are applicable to real life, “Census projections tell us that the US will have the largest Spanish-speaking  population in the world in the next 20-30 years, so it’s likely that today’s high school students will need to recognize and perhaps speak the language in the future.”

Thornton has experienced firsthand the professional and personal advantages available to those who speak multiple languages. She also thinks it’s really fun to have an ability that is still fairly uncommon in our region of the world. 

She also has a background in public speaking, debate and theatre. Her Introduction to Public Speaking course helps students learn to speak confidently and concisely, articulate and defend their ideas and use communication techniques that bring maximum impact to their words. They also get to explore a variety of MSHSAA Speech & Debate contest events in case they develop an interest in competing in the future.

Along with picking up many other classes this year, she also runs some social media pages. Thornton says she spends a lot of time on social media checking on different clubs, sports, and departments to see what they are doing. She keeps a close eye on the calendar and upcoming events to help publicize them. Teachers send her pictures of unique things that are happening in their classes along with summaries of what is happening in the pictures.

 Thornton states, “At the beginning of the year, we set up an email address that anyone in the district, including families and friends of students, can share photos to, and I really rely on those submissions, too. That email address is [email protected], and it’s available for anyone who wants to make sure an event or achievement is highlighted on our socials- not just current students or staff.”

Finally, Thornton says there’s a quote by Henry Adams that sums up why she decided to teach. “A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.” She says it’s the most rewarding and valuable way to spend her life.