Shawn Shockey, who has been teaching in Wood County for 34 years, received a certificate from Superintendent Christie Willis in August for being an Impactful Educator after participating in the Teaching and Learning Academy over the summer. Wills said Shockey was the first one there and the last to leave every day showing his dedication to teaching. (File Photo)

PARKERSBURG — Shawn Shockey graduated from Parkersburg South High School in 1983 with a plan.

“I knew I wanted to work with kids. I was always into athletics, and I wanted to coach,” Shockey said. “Back then, at the time, in order to coach you had to be a teacher. So I went to Glenville (State University) to be a teacher.”

Shockey said the teachers he had growing up as a student at Gihon and Franklin Elementary had an enormous impact on his decision to get into education.

“A lot of the people I graduated with have become teachers, and we got to talking, and it’s because of the foundation that they set forth, that we saw from them, that modeled it for us,” Shockey said.

Shockey said he wasn’t impressed with his first student teaching experience. He said the teacher sat him in the back of the class and he just observed. He said his second experience was with the special education department at Gilmore High School.

“I walked in expecting the same thing, and the teacher greeted me at the door and said, ‘Hey, this is Johnny, I want you to sit down and tutor him,'” Shockey said. “I fell in love with helping the kid.”

He said it was then that he decided he would study both elementary and special education. He said afterwards his advisor convinced him to study all the different areas of special education.

“So, I ended up graduating with 203 credit hours and four majors,” Shockey said.

He completed his second set of student teaching at the old Martin Elementary where he was a substitute for seven days and then became a full-time special education teacher in the middle of that year. He was in that position for three years before the school closed its doors. When they did, he was told he would be transferred into a regular classroom setting, but asked to be notified if a special education position opened.

“Two days before that next school year a job came open at Fairplains (Elementary),” Shockey said. “I asked who the principal was and they said, ‘Right now there is none.’ How many kids do I have? ‘Right now, there are none.’ When do you have know? Right now.’ I said ‘Well, I guess I’ll take it.’ And spent three years there.”

Shockey said he was then asked to move to the new Martin Elementary but initially didn’t want to go.

“My role models were my teachers and I felt they were at one school forever. So, that’s what I wanted to do,” Shockey said. “I felt like I was a part of the school. I had painted the school motto on the wall at Fairplains, which I think is still there. And they were going to move me.”

He said during that time, though, he had a student who was in a wheelchair but Fairplains Elementary wasn’t handicap accessible yet.

“They said it would be more handicap accessible for my students to be up there. And I can’t argue there,” Shockey said. “So, I went up there and spent 20 years there.”

Shockey said he was then asked to transfer to Parkersburg South High School after the retirement of another teacher. He said he wrestled with the idea of starting over at another school for around six months before taking the position.

“I’ve been up here, this is year seven,” Shockey said. “Thirty-four total, all in special ed.”

Shockey said everything he does is for his students and that many become like family to him. He said what motivates him is passing on everything he learned from his role models growing up.

“I want to pass on what I received from the system, and give back what I got from my teachers,” Shockey said. “I was lucky enough to student teach under the second grade teacher I had when I was second grade. And that was a wonderful experience.”

Shockey said he tries to look at every day as a new day. He said he tries to work past the rough days and celebrate the good ones. He said in the end, it was all about his students.

“I love seeing the success, the reaction to success that they have when they do something, or improve upon something they are having trouble with,” Shockey said. “That all goes back to helping, I want to help pass on what I received.”

Shockey said he’s been fortunate with his career decisions and where he landed.

“I am fortunate to work in the community I grew up in, and I have a lot of pride in the school that I work at, and went to school at, and graduated from, Parkersburg South High School,” Shockey said. ” I am fortunate to be a part of such a large staff that cares about student success like they do.”

Douglass Huxley can be reached at dhuxley@newsandsentinel.com