April 2017 Newsletter: Employee Spotlight — Rebecca Harper, Shaker's First Class Onaway PreK Teacher

One of Rebecca Harper's first teaching jobs was at an inner-city Chattanooga elementary school where she taught third and fourth grades. She enjoyed it, but found herself drawn to the idea of teaching "the little people." So she asked her principal about the possibility of switching to kindergarten. "The principal looked at me and was like, 'What? But you're so tall and you're so good with the older ones.'" Still green and only a few years out of Lambuth University (where she played varsity basketball) Harper dismissed her idea and stayed put.

Today—nearly 20 years and lots of early childhood experience later—Harper knows her first instincts were right. Which is why she was excited to join the District last summer as a PreK teacher for Shaker's First Class at Onaway. "It's the only age group I ever want to teach again," she says.

Harper admits that teaching "the little people" is a bit of dance, but these are steps she knows well, having taught at Shaker's Cooperative Preschool for nine years. Take a look inside Harper's classroom and see her interact with the students, whether she provides gentle guidance or piques her students' interests with an art project, it's clear this is her happy place.

"I always tell people that I can't believe I get paid to do this because it is so rewarding, it is the most fun, and I've been able to merge my own teaching philosophy with IB," she explains. "This has been an amazing group of kids and the parents have gone as far as I've asked them to go and even farther."

As genuinely excited as Harper is about teaching, she says that outside the classroom, she is "super boring." At home, Harper loves a good DIY project and stays busy as a mother to two Shaker students.