[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 64 (Thursday, April 30, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E635]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SHANNA PEEPLES OF AMARILLO NAMED 2015 NATIONAL TEACHER OF THE YEAR

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                          HON. MAC THORNBERRY

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 30, 2015

  Mr. THORNBERRY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor one of my 
constituents, Shanna Peeples, who has been named the 2015 National 
Teacher of the Year by the Council of Chief State School Officers. She 
is the first Texas teacher to win the award since 1957.
   Ms. Peeples is a high school English teacher at Palo Duro High 
School in Amarillo, Texas. She graduated from West Texas A&M University 
in 1997. After working as a disc jockey, medical assistant, pet sitter, 
and journalist at the Amarillo Globe-News covering education, the 
mother of three children began teaching 12 years ago.
   Ms. Peeples was exposed to alcoholism, domestic violence, and 
poverty as a child. Those hardships help her empathize with her 
students, 85 percent of whom live below the poverty line and many 
having fled violent homelands from around the world. Just as her 
teachers made school her safe place where she could escape her fears 
through reading and writing, Ms. Peeples strives to give her students a 
sense of belonging. She wants them to know she is invested in their 
lives and in their futures. So much so, that she has had to help 
refugee parents who wanted their children to work rather than go to 
school understand the importance of education.
   In addition to serving as the chair of her English department, she 
is a mentor and instructional coach for other teachers at her school. 
As she travels the nation over the next year, she plans to emphasize 
effective teaching methods for students in poverty or facing extreme 
challenges.
   Ms. Peeples is the type of educator all parents want teaching our 
children. She is a shining example of the best of her profession. The 
fact that she has already been recognized as the Teacher of the Year 
for Texas and has now become the Teacher of the Year for the entire 
country makes everyone in our area--and especially our teachers and 
school systems--very proud.

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