TEACHER OF INTEREST
The THIRD-GRADE TEACHER
LaShawnda McNair, a third-grade teacher at J.D. Parker Elementary, prepares her students academically as well as helping them become responsible citizens.
BY DONNA CRARY
For LaShawnda McNair, being a third-grade teacher
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at J.D. Parker Elementary in Stuart involves far more
than instructing on how to read, write and do arithmetic.
It’s about molding young lives.
“I inspire kids. That’s what teaching is,” she says. “It’s
making them believe that they can learn. Half of the battle is
getting them to know that you care enough about them, that
they can do the work — even when it gets hard.”
While in the classroom, McNair is busy helping her students
become successful, responsible citizens. A rewarding
part of her job, she points out, is watching their development.
“I get to see them grow from day one — as a person, a
reader, a mathematician, a scientist — I get to watch all those
things that most people don’t get to see,” she says. “They
don’t get to see those aha moments that I witness every day.”
McNair’s first career was in banking, while raising her firstborn,
Shannon. Several years later, she became the mother of
twin daughters, Shanna and Shawna. The demands of her job
along with the expensive costs of day care convinced her to
become a stay-at-home mom.
When her daughters started attending school at Jensen
Beach Elementary, McNair enjoyed volunteering in their
classrooms. It was during this time that her future career
DONNA CRARY PHOTOS
came into view.
“I thought, ‘I’m going back to school — this is what I want
to do,’” she recalls. “Watching other teachers teach kids, inspiring
them, and seeing how much my children loved their
teachers and they wanted to be in school. I just knew that this
was the path that I wanted to take.”
McNair was particularly inspired by Tina Engel, a former
second-grade teacher at Jensen Beach Elementary.
“She was my daughter’s teacher and now is the district
reading coach — she’s amazing; the connection that she has
with the kids,” she emphasizes. “She’s demanding of them,
but they know that it’s coming from a good place. She knows
her stuff and teaches it in a fun way.”
McNair also credits her mother for encouraging her early
on to pursue teaching along with her husband, Floyd, whose
unwavering support allowed her to return to college and
earn her degree.
“He has definitely been like a rock through all of this,” she
says. “He said, ‘You go back to school, and I’ll work double
time to make sure that our family is taken care of.’ Even now,
he’ll come in and read to the kids. He’s committed to my
career.”
In 2012, McNair graduated with a bachelor’s degree in >>
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