Staff, students, parents, and community members gathered Wednesday, May 13th to celebrate Sheila Kelley and her 33 years of teaching.
Sheila Kelley graduated from Emporia State University with a Bachelor of Science in Education in 1992 and later earned her Master’s degree in 2002. During the spring of 1992, she completed her student teaching at Lebo Elementary School under the guidance of Betty Lewis in Kindergarten and Vicki Rosine in 2nd Grade. After substitute teaching during the 1992–1993 school year, she began her teaching career at Lebo in the fall of 1993. Three of those years were spent teaching 2nd grade, while 30 years were spent in 1st grade. Every year of her teaching career was devoted to the students and families of Lebo Elementary. Over the course of her career, Sheila taught 531 students. In 2015 she began teaching the children of former students. That year, she taught three students whose parents had once sat in her classroom. By the time of her retirement, she had taught 23 second generation students.
Sheila and her husband, Brian, an engineer for BNSF Railway, are looking forward to spending more time together in retirement. Their son Tristan recently accepted a new position working in Information Technology for Emporia State University, and their son Taegan is a sophomore at Emporia State University studying Business Administration. The Kelley family also includes their two Labrador retrievers, Alex and Miley, and a new black lab puppy named Busch, who will soon be heading off to college with Taegan in the fall. In retirement, Sheila plans to enjoy traveling with Brian, tackling home projects, checking adventures off her bucket list, spending more time working out, hiking, kayaking, and cherishing extra time with her parents and family. She is also looking forward to slowing down a bit, drinking coffee in the hot tub each morning, and trying out her green thumb by planting a garden next spring.
While she may be retiring from the classroom, Sheila will always consider herself a teacher at heart. Lebo has been more than a workplace to her, it has been home.
Thank you, Mrs. Kelley, for your dedication to your students, the education profession, and USD243!
