Dickson native named area teacher of the year
Dickson Middle School and High School Vocal Music Teacher Andrea Shahan has been voted area teacher of the year. In the classroom, Shahan teaches students in the sixth through 12th grades. However, she also has experience in Dickson classrooms as a student herself
"My first few years of school I was at Mannsville, but I moved to Dickson in third grade and stayed here until I graduated," Shahan said.
One aspect of teaching at a school she attended is that now she works with those who once taught her.
"Several of my former teachers are still here," she said. "It's really cool that I get to work with the teachers who poured so much into me, and now I get to pour some of that into their kids. That bond I had with them gets to continue but in a different light, and we're all here to help each other and help the kids."
Shahan said music has always been an important part of her life, She was a member of the Dickson show choir, Showcase, throughout high school. She also spent eight years as a member of Broadway Kids in Ardmore.
"Music has always been a passion of mine, and I pretty much knew I wanted to be a music major by the time I was a junior or senior in high school," Shahan said. "I went on to Oklahoma Baptist University and majored in Music Education, and once I graduated I pretty much went straight back home. Dickson is the only place I've ever taught, and now I'm in my fourth year."
She said she tries to instill in her students a love of music, and she teaches them that music is a great way of reaching out to others and in some cases even helping others heal.
"In my opinion, music is the only universal language," Shahan said. "We speak a million different languages across this world, but music communicates across cultures without words. One of the things my college professors instilled in me was we sing to heal the world. You don't know who's going to be in the audience that needs to hear that music. You don't know who's heart is coming into a show and just waiting to be filled."
She also feels that as a teacher, it's important to be there for her students.
"When I was growing up some of my biggest influences and role models were teachers," Shahan said. "They poured into me so much and believed in me. That meant the world to me, and to get to be that to someone else is my favorite part part of teaching. I want to be that person for my students. I can be that cheerleader and that person to lean on."
Her advice to anyone interested in becoming a teacher is to listen to veteran teachers.
"Find your mentor teachers, and find your teacher group," Shahan said. "They are your biggest advocates because they want the profession to succeed as much as anyone else. I feel like sometimes younger teachers try to dismiss older teachers because they think their ideas are too old-school or by the book. I don't agree with that because those teachers who have done it for years and years are my biggest asset. I think that's what has helped me so much. At Dickson I have an amazing support group. Between the teachers and the administration and the parents, there is nothing better that I could have asked for."
She said she is humbled by this recognition.
"I believe that all teachers deserve recognition," Shahan said. "It's a hard time to be in this profession, and there are so many other teachers who deserve this. They show up day in and day out to teach and love on those kiddos, and that's the most important thing."
This article originally appeared on The Daily Ardmoreite: Dickson native named area teacher of the year
