Wlaf1450JELLICO, TN (WLAF) – Jellico Elementary School’s Shelly Ayers is WLAF’s teacher of the week. Ayers is Assistant Principal at the elementary school.
Ayers had previously finished her third year at Jacksboro Middle School as an eighth grade English Language Arts teacher and took on the new role of Assistant Principal at Jellico Elementary for the 2021/2022 school year. Overall, this is her 14th year as an educator.
Ayers said literature and writing had always moved her and that she believed “literacy is THE foundation for success among humans.”
According to Ayers, it was her high school English teacher Lisa Copeland that made her realize that teaching was the direction to take to use her love of literature in a way that could help other people along the way.
She said her favorite part of her job is the students.
“I love interacting with them day to day, even on hard days. Most of all, I love seeing the pride on their faces when they realize they CAN do the task that seemed too difficult,” Ayers said.
Some positives from the past year despite the pandemic is that it “forced us all to come to a screeching halt.”
“Suddenly we were all at home in quarantine. That sudden stillness made me, and probably everyone, evaluate how I was living my life and why. It made the important things become clearer, and it was really beautiful to see the way students and teachers alike came together to make connection happen, despite obstacles,” Ayers said. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 09/16/2021-6AM)