Time to appreciate teachers: Emotional week at M.D. Shannon, scheduled to close

Teacher Appreciation Week is especially sentimental this year at M.D. Shannon Elementary School. It’s the last appreciation week to be celebrated together.

The St. Mary Parish School Board voted in March to close Shannon to save money.

“It’s just an opportunity to really make it known that they are appreciated,” Shannon Principal Shantell Toups said. “I try to do it throughout the year but this week it just encapsulates all of that and really makes it special to them.”

First-year kindergarten teacher Ashley Fangue stepped in to teach after graduating in December 2015 from Nicholls State. She started teaching in January.

“Well, starting off, I was really wary to kind of come into a new school in the middle of a year with all these people I did not know,” Fangue said. “The staff was welcoming, so helpful they treated me like they’ve known me their entire lives.

“So, that was really awesome.”

Although her teaching experience at Shannon has only lasted a few months, it does bring sadness about the school’s closure.

“We’ve definitely been through a lot,” Fangue said. “Even though I’ve only been here a short period of time, it is emotional. I’ve grown close to these people. We hang out outside of school.

“And it’s just kind of unsettling to know that you’re going into a new situation next year with a totally new group of people. You don’t know if they’re going to accept you the way I was accepted at Shannon.”

Her first Teacher Appreciation Week has been “wonderful.”

“Of course, the gifts and food every day, that’s all really nice,” Fangue said. “But it’s just really nice to hear it from the kids as they make little cards in class. And they’re coming with their homemade gifts from home.”

The kids tell her “I love you and you are the best.” But this week, their sentiments mean more.

“You know you’re doing it for the kids, but you wonder how the parents are feeling,” Fangue said. “And the parents are really showing their appreciation.”

Third-grade teacher Mary Thomas has taught for 29 years, and 28 were at Shannon.

“Anything that we have at school now is bittersweet,” Thomas said. “Everything that we do is the last time we’re going to do it here.”

Her fondest memories are being named Shannon Teacher of the Year and St. Mary Parish Elementary Teacher of the Year during the early 1990s . At the time, she had been teaching around four years.

“Being young in the profession, that was kind of admirable and humbling,” Thomas said.

Thomas credits her past and present administrators for positively influencing her growth and development as a teacher.

“They would push us to be the best that we could be,” Thomas said. “I want to make sure I do anything and everything to please … not only for my administration but for my students.”

Thomas is now teaching the children of former students.

“The kids inspire you to be the best,” Thomas said. “But you’ve got to bring your A-game. You can’t come to school unprepared because they’ll sense it and take advantage of it. You’ve got to teach to the times. …”

“The way I teach now is not the way I taught when I first started teaching. I’m competing with Xbox and Minecraft and all of that.”

With Shannon’s final day of school only weeks away, the principal and teachers alike remain positive about moving on to the next assignments.

“You come in blind, really,” Fangue said. “You don’t know what to do. You’ve never been in this setting before. They (teachers) really helped me a lot. They taught me to not be afraid to ask for help.”

“No matter where I go, kids are going to need me,” Thomas said. “If I’m here, if I’m somewhere else, kids are going to need me. And I’m going to do the best job that I can do no matter where I am.

“My heart will still be Shannon,” Thomas said. “It will still bleed baby Bengals. And I’ll miss my family here. Many people say it, but a lot of people don’t live what we live here at Shannon. … We really are a family.”

A Tribute to Shannon will be held May 14 at 4 p.m. All former and present students, faculty, family, friends, and community members are invited to share memories.

Former Shannon choir members are also being asked to participate in the celebration. For more information, contact the school at 985-385-4970.