My name is Staysha
Rae Adams. I was born in Wyoming and then moved to Salt Lake City, Utah when I
was about two years old. Here we learned that I was very sick and had a major
surgery by the time I was four in order to remove my kidney that was no longer
functioning, I was only estimated to live to be twelve years old. I am the
youngest of three girls. However, I am the exact opposite of what the stereo-
typical “baby of the family” would be. I am not the spoiled type who thinks the
whole world revolves around them. I am the mother type who always makes sure my
friends and family are safe and taken care of. While we were living in Salt
Lake my mother was a teacher at The Montessori School of Murray. I went to
school here as well, here I got to become very close and develop a very strong
and close relationship with my teachers. When I was in second grade my family
moved to Morrill Nebraska, we made the move because it was supposed to be
better for my health. When I got to
Nebraska people would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up and my reply
was always a nurse. It wasn’t until after the fourth grade that I wanted to be
a teacher. I loved school and learning when I was younger but when I got to the
fourth grade I began to love it even more and realized what a difference teachers
make in their students’ lives. My fourth grade teacher was fantastic! She
opened my eyes to how great learning can be and how much fun school could be.
Not only did she help me in the classroom with my school work but she also
helped me to develop as a person and helped me get through some really rough
times.
My fourth grade
teacher opened my eyes to what I wanted to do but it wasn’t until I starting
getting involved with helping children every day that I knew this was something
I loved. At the age of 13 I began working at the YMCA After Summer Camp and
After School Adventure camp. Here I began working with children from the ages
of 6 to 15. I helped them through any problem that might have come up during
our time together. These problems ranged from school work to personal problems
at home, such as helping one girl handle her mother moving on after a divorce.
I made a strong bond with many of the children. These children helped me to
grow as well, they opened my eyes to seeing the world in a much better and more
innocent way. This lasted from the age of 13 to the age of 18.
I attended High School at Scottsbluff High School where I was very active in a large variety of activities. The four things I devoted most of my time to when I was in high school were FCCLA, Speech, theatre and Upward Bound. I loved all of these things equally and they gave me so many opportunities to work with children and do many things I never thought I would have the chance to do. After high school I continued my education at Western Nebraska Community College. Where I began doing many hours of observation and got involved with Theatre West. I have worked with them in almost every department but my favorite was when we did productions with children. I loved watching them grow and discover new things about themselves through the theatre. I find the in every show you can learn at least one new thing about yourself and many of the children found this out as well. Upward Bound gave me numerous opportunities that I never thought I would have and they helped me to realize what I wanted to do with my life. Not only have did they help me through school but my junior year of college they gave me a job as a theatre teacher and then again as team leader. Both were very different but they showed me how much I loved what I was doing and that I was pursing the right dream.
Recently I worked as Para Professional in a Kindergarten classroom at St. Agnes Catholic School in Scottsbluff and I loved it! My eyes have were opened up even more to how much of a difference a teacher can make, how much of a difference you can make even when you are not their regular teacher, just being a Para can make a difference on the child. Not only do I have an impact on the children that I work with but every one of these children I come in contact with make an impact on my life. They have shown me ways to look at things in the world that I would have never thought of before. For example, working at a Catholic school has shown me new ways to look at the world, the student’s innocent ways of looking at the world and what God has created is so fantastic. All of the children that I have worked with have shaped me and help me to grow as a person and as a teacher. They have helped me to become a better person in the world today. I have seen ways to help and ways to hurt children through being a teacher. I have seen a wide range of teachers from the good to the bad. I personally want to be one of the good and I want to change the lives of children and help them to succeed and see that they can do whatever they put their mind to! I want to influence them like every teacher figure in my life has done for me. Both of my sisters are teachers, my mother was a teacher and some of my very best friends are teachers. Teaching is something that is in my blood, always has been and always will be. My road to teaching has not been a very easy road and I want to be able to someday show my students that they can overcome anything and the problems they face will only stop them if they allow it to stop them.
I attended High School at Scottsbluff High School where I was very active in a large variety of activities. The four things I devoted most of my time to when I was in high school were FCCLA, Speech, theatre and Upward Bound. I loved all of these things equally and they gave me so many opportunities to work with children and do many things I never thought I would have the chance to do. After high school I continued my education at Western Nebraska Community College. Where I began doing many hours of observation and got involved with Theatre West. I have worked with them in almost every department but my favorite was when we did productions with children. I loved watching them grow and discover new things about themselves through the theatre. I find the in every show you can learn at least one new thing about yourself and many of the children found this out as well. Upward Bound gave me numerous opportunities that I never thought I would have and they helped me to realize what I wanted to do with my life. Not only have did they help me through school but my junior year of college they gave me a job as a theatre teacher and then again as team leader. Both were very different but they showed me how much I loved what I was doing and that I was pursing the right dream.
Recently I worked as Para Professional in a Kindergarten classroom at St. Agnes Catholic School in Scottsbluff and I loved it! My eyes have were opened up even more to how much of a difference a teacher can make, how much of a difference you can make even when you are not their regular teacher, just being a Para can make a difference on the child. Not only do I have an impact on the children that I work with but every one of these children I come in contact with make an impact on my life. They have shown me ways to look at things in the world that I would have never thought of before. For example, working at a Catholic school has shown me new ways to look at the world, the student’s innocent ways of looking at the world and what God has created is so fantastic. All of the children that I have worked with have shaped me and help me to grow as a person and as a teacher. They have helped me to become a better person in the world today. I have seen ways to help and ways to hurt children through being a teacher. I have seen a wide range of teachers from the good to the bad. I personally want to be one of the good and I want to change the lives of children and help them to succeed and see that they can do whatever they put their mind to! I want to influence them like every teacher figure in my life has done for me. Both of my sisters are teachers, my mother was a teacher and some of my very best friends are teachers. Teaching is something that is in my blood, always has been and always will be. My road to teaching has not been a very easy road and I want to be able to someday show my students that they can overcome anything and the problems they face will only stop them if they allow it to stop them.