Outstanding Teacher of the Year at Windham Adult Education - By Michelle Libby

Last fall, Shelli Pride was awarded the 2015 Adult Education Outstanding Teacher award at a symposium. The honor went almost completely unknown, but Pride’s work at Windham-Raymond Adult Education speaks for itself.

“I was totally blown away,” Pride said. “I was very surprised and overwhelmed by the nomination and award!” 

Pride has been an adult education teacher for 20 years.

“After receiving that award, not that I needed an award to validate me, I found my passion 20 years ago, it gave me that validation from my peers. They recognized the time and effort put into being a teacher,” Pride said. Pride has been teaching vocational classes like accounting, Microsoft office, computer science and QuickBooks for years. 

For Pride, students in adult education are different from those who are still in high school. “In the classes I’ve taught, students have a desire to be there and want to be a part of the class.” She added that quality teachers make the content relevant for the students. Many of them are paying to be in the class and they want to get the most out of it. Some are upgrading for their jobs and others are looking for a change. There’s more engagement between the students and teachers in adult education, Pride said. 

“Shelli comes to the adult education learning center every day with a smile on her face and a genuine eagerness to support each of her colleagues and students in any way she can. She is the epitome of a dedicated teacher, a loyal, motivated and conscientious employee and an unselfish team player. The success of a director is determined by the quality of people one surrounds themselves with; I am very fortunate to have added Shelli to a stellar group of adult educators in Windham/Raymond,” said director of adult education Tom Nash. 

Right now, Pride is the college transitions coordinator and currently prepares students to be ready for their freshman year in college. 

When asked what makes a good adult education teacher, Pride answered, “Passion for their subject that comes across and the desire to pass on their knowledge. You can tell the ones who have the true passion.”