A Tribute to Shelby Teachers and Staff Members

As a member of the Shelby Rotary Club Scholarship Committee, I spent most of the day this past Tuesday at the high school interviewing 34 scholarship candidates. I have done this one day per year for the last four or five years. Although the selection process is very difficult, this is a very enriching experience for me each year and I just cannot allow another year to pass without sharing a few nuggets of this experience with you.

The main reason this experience is so enriching for me is because these students constantly talk about the amazing impact that their teachers and other school staff members – you – have had in their lives. One of our standard questions enables us to understand how students formulate their goals and ambitions in their educational and professional pursuits. Again, it is the Shelby School teachers and staff members who in so many cases have helped these students formulate their futures! My fellow committee members and I leave the high school every year in awe of you and the work you do. We see first-hand how you have become HEROS in the lives of these wonderful students.

Let me tell just one specific example, but anonymously. One student expressed a desire to pursue a career in a specific area of education. We asked this student if there was a particular teacher who had an impact on this ambition of hers. She reported to us that she was deeply impacted by many people in her life, but there was one teacher in particular that she had had the opportunity to observe.

She told our entire committee the most heartwarming story of how she had observed this teacher on many occasions, especially as the teacher was working with other students. She spoke of patience, concern, and an amazing effort to help these students succeed at learning. This young lady was so deeply moved by the impact of this teacher, that she has chosen to dedicate the rest of her life to emulating that teacher. We were all a little speechless after hearing this impromptu but well-spoken tribute to the success of this teacher. It made us all very proud to be affiliated with the Shelby Schools. Other similar examples of this same magnitude have been repeated throughout almost every interview year after year. This success would not be possible without the collective effort of the entire Shelby Schools Team.

I have had many wonderful conversations with several Shelby teachers regarding the issues facing our schools. I believe that there is nobody better able to understand these important issues than our teachers. But I have not been able to have these in-depth conversations with as many of you as I would like. For this reason, and since I am running for school board, I would like to ask you a favor – could you take a moment and send me a quick email with your thoughts on what you feel are the top issues facing our precious Shelby Public Schools. Please also give me your opinions on how we can best handle these matters – I want to know all of your specific opinions and recommendations! Please send me your thoughts to my email address: WarrenWalborn1@gmail.com. Thanks! I hope to hear from all of you soon, but if there is ever an issue or question you have that you would like to discuss with me at any time in the future, I hope you will feel free to contact me.

Regardless of the school board election, Karen and I want to thank you for the amazing impact you have had (and will yet have) on our children. Those of you who have taught our kids hopefully already know the sincerity of our appreciation. We see our children growing and developing in so many positive ways. We do our part as a family, but your stewardship over our schools has a greater impact over our community, and ultimately the lives of these wonderful kids than anything else.

One of my fellow scholarship committee members said in one interview to a student: “Please do not fear going into debt for your education. This is the most important investment you will ever make.” I agree completely and regardless of any election, I will always strongly support our schools in every way possible, especially our wonderful teachers and school staff. I look forward to hearing from each of you.

PS – A quick plug for Rotary: As many of you know, Rotary is a worldwide service organization with over 1 million members worldwide. We sponsor students going from Shelby out into the world (John Riegler from Shelby is going to Lithuania for next year), and we have sponsored many wonderful exchange students who have come to Shelby. We contribute from $5,000 to over $10,000 per year in scholarships to Shelby graduates, and we do many other wonderful things in the community. We work hard raising these funds and we also have an endowment fund that we manage. It is really a great group. (I am a former President and the former Chairperson of our membership committee so I always look for opportunities to promote Rotary! :))

We are non-political and we welcome ANYONE who wishes to join our efforts to serve the community and give back. If any Shelby teacher or other community member has a desire to attend one of our lunches to learn more about what we do, and possibly help us with some ideas of how we can better serve the Shelby community and/or Shelby Schools, please let me know so that I can have you as my guest for lunch!