Heritage’s New Teachers: Who is Ms. Shearer?

Ms. Summer Shearer is one of two new English teachers joining us at Heritage this year. You can find Ms. Shearer at the corner of Cavazos Hall, where her classroom is filled with desks and décor. Everywhere you look there are books and plants (though many of them are fake). It’s like an enchanted library. Before coming here she taught sixth grade at Heritage Middle. At the middle school she taught 6th graders, which was a big difference from what she was used to. “I’d never taught middle school, so it was a challenge,” explained Ms. Shearer. During her college years she had mostly worked with high school students, so she was worried about what her first year teaching would entail. Thankfully, everything went well. 

Ms. Shearer now works at Heritage High School (the same place where her older sister Mrs. Handy teaches Agriculture). Originally, she hadn’t planned to work at the same school as her sister. She just wanted to move away from home.  “I didn’t really want to stay in Kentucky, cause you know, I’ve been there my whole life,” explained Ms. Shearer. “I was tired of being in Kentucky, and I’d seen all I’d needed to see.” So, when Mrs. Handy sent her an email with the job listing and the phrase “a door” Ms. Shearer knew that this was her chance to get out of Kentucky. During the application process she had to meet on Zoom for her interview. “Dr. Butler [the middle school principal] put me on the Zoom call with like eight other teachers,” explained Mrs. Shearer. Soon after Dr. Butler called her to tell her that she got the job. 

During high school Ms. Shearer never thought she would end up as a teacher. “I thought I was going to be an optometrist,” she started. “But, I was sitting there [in her senior English class] while she [her teacher] was teaching and I was like ‘Huh. I like this.’” With this realization Ms. Shearer went off to college to follow her dream. She attended Eastern Kentucky University as an English Major on a full ride scholarship. This gave her the ability to graduate with no student debt—of which she is very proud. During her time there she was constantly in the classroom getting hands-on experience with kids. She took mostly online classes, so this in person involvement was crucial.

It’s been a crazy first few weeks at Heritage, but Mrs. Shearer has embraced it all. During the first day activity, her station was filled with so many kids you could barely walk through the hallway. All of them were amazed by her room and the Taylor Swift banner that she had borrowed from her Swifty sister. While she is glad to be here, she isn’t used to being apart from her twin sister (Cheyenne Shearer). “I miss her,” she said. “It’s because I was used to her being there all the time. Because, you know, we were always in the same room growing up, and then we moved out.”  Like most siblings, they grew up together, and this past year has been the first time they have been truly apart. 

While she may be apart from her twin, she still has her dear older sister nearby. This, however, has caused a few problems. “I had a new kid come in last week, and he sat in Meagan’s room for a good 20 minutes because he thought it was the right Ms. Shearer,” she started. “Megan had to bring him back to my room cause it still says “Shearer” on the door!” These past few weeks have been wonderful for her, even with kids getting confused on who is who. Ms. Shearer is truly excited to see how this year will go, and hopefully the many more that are to come!