Mrs. Shannon Stanton has been a professional educator since 1993. Mrs. Stanton was inadvertently given her first teaching job at the age of two, helping her three-year-old brother Brett, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, learn to walk and talk. Later, Brett’s CP required weekly physical therapy sessions, and as a preschooler in the waiting room of these sessions with her mom, Mrs. Stanton’s love of reading was born. Golden Books in the waiting room gave way to chapter books enjoyed in the backseat of the car, and that love of school and reading has continued today.

Mrs. Stanton graduated from Louisiana State University and began her teaching career as a fourth-grade teacher in Louisiana, and later in Mississippi. Mrs. Stanton also completed her master’s degree at the University of New Orleans, and a later summer spent with the Louisiana Systemic Math Initiative Program at Loyola University in New Orleans, a statewide program that trained educators in the utilization of cooperative, hands-on learning activities using critical thinking and authentic, real-world learning experiences, became the backbone of her classroom model. At her later job at Stapleton School in rural Baldwin County, Mrs. Stanton was greatly influenced by the various learning styles of her diverse fifth grade students.

Currently, Mrs. Stanton is a second-grade teacher at Rockwell Elementary School in Spanish Fort, Alabama. She continues to grow along with her students, and as an added bonus, her brother Brett is thriving, continuing to inspire the newest learners today!