Her Story
Sheryl Abshire decided she was going to be a teacher at age seven, and never wavered from that decision. Her first teaching assignment was a second grade class in Augusta, Georgia; in 1973 she and her husband returned home to Lake Charles, Louisiana, where she began an 18-year career with the Calcasieu Parish School Board as a fourth grade teacher in an at-risk school. After several years teaching fourth and second grade while earning her Master of Education degree, she took a sabbatical following the birth of her first child to pursue certification in Library Science. In 1978 she became a Library/Media Specialist, opening new libraries at two elementary schools before settling at College Oaks Elementary in 1980, where she remained.
At College Oaks, Abshire became a driving force behind the school’s transformation from having virtually no classroom technology into a statewide model. She wrote two competitive grants to the Louisiana Quality Education Support Fund that brought in $60,000 for computers, and served as the program administrator for both. Her interest in educational telecommunications led her to build a system-wide electronic Bulletin Board System, used by over 3,000 students and 100 teachers and administrators, with her serving as its operator and trainer.
In 1989–90, her students produced, filmed, and directed the award-winning “Channel 7 Kids News,” bringing her several national awards for innovative use of media and technology in language arts and social studies. That work led AT&T’s Long Distance Learning Network to select her as their 1990–91 Elementary Curriculum Consultant, and in 1991 the National Foundation for the Improvement of Education named her a Christa McAuliffe Fellow — an honor that included a two-week fellowship at Stanford University. She was formally recognized on the floor of the Louisiana Legislature and presented to the Louisiana House and Senate on National Teacher Day, May 7, 1991.
Beyond the Classroom
Abshire helped develop and pilot the first Volunteers in Public Schools program in her area, serving as school coordinator for three years, and worked with the Chamber of Commerce to launch the Partners in Education program matching local businesses with schools — a project that, by the fall of 1991, would match all 57 schools in Calcasieu Parish with a business partner and drew national attention. In 1991 she piloted the Family Connection Home Video Project, a video check-out program encouraging parents to watch award-winning reading and math videos with their children and complete follow-up activities together.
She served on the Board of Directors of the Louisiana Association of Educators and the Calcasieu Association of Educators, chaired the LAE Special Services Committee, and served as a Trustee for the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana representing the 7th Congressional District. As editor of the CAE Actionline Newsletter, her work won the LAE Newsletter of the Year award two years running. She was also active on committees for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, chairing College Oaks’s 1990 ten-year accreditation review, and served on the NEA Host Committee for a New Orleans convention drawing over 8,000 educators.
Her community involvement stretched well beyond education: board membership with the Junior League of Lake Charles and the Lake Charles Ballet Society, a four-year run in the American Cancer Society’s “Show For Life” fundraiser cast, chairing the American Association of University Women’s Book Review Group, and regular participation in drives for the March of Dimes, Arthritis Foundation, Heart Association, Camp Fire Girls, and Girl Scouts. She was also a key organizer of the community’s S.O.S. (Save Our Schools) Committee, which helped pass a half-cent sales tax funding a wave of new school technology — passing in her district even as similar measures failed statewide.
Philosophy Into Action
Abshire believed teaching should be child-centered, with a flexible curriculum designed to prepare students to be “global citizens in the 21st century,” and that education was a shared responsibility between schools, families, and the wider community. That philosophy showed up directly in her insistence on connecting her students to the world beyond their classroom — building an award-winning student news program, linking her school into national telecommunications networks, and engaging elementary students in a Middle East simulation project that raised their expectations for their own thinking.
“Mrs. Abshire is not your average 8:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. teacher. There were many days we stayed after school and worked together on Saturdays. Mrs. Abshire has a special commitment to educating youth. She has a unique teaching skill in combining her creativity and wisdom with every lesson.”— Dustin L. Erwin, Former Student
In Her Own Words
“I have been a classroom teacher for nineteen years. When I was seven years old, I decided that I was going to be a teacher. For thirty-three years I have not wavered from my original decision… I know I have made a difference in the lives of my students.”— from her essay, “A Classroom Teacher”
“There is no greater accolade or award that means more to me, than for a young adult to introduce me to a spouse or friend and say, ‘This is Mrs. Abshire, you remember me talking about her. She’s the greatest…. she was my teacher.'”— from her essay, “A Classroom Teacher”
What Others Said
“Mrs. Sheryl Abshire has set the standard in Louisiana for instructional technology, particularly in the elementary grades. Her creative approach to integrating the present with the future; the needs of the children with the needs of the community; and the advancement of her own profession in the field of computer assisted instruction is stellar.”— Linda B. Day, Nominator, President, Louisiana Association of Educators
“Sheryl eagerly motivates those around her to pursue the ‘impossible dream.’ She has led her faculty by writing and receiving grants for computer equipment in excess of $60,000… Sheryl’s exemplary leadership, creative intellect, and genuine concern for student learning are all truly worthy of national recognition.”— Diane Mason, Classroom Educator
“As Librarian/Media Specialist at College Oaks she has brought our school’s technology from near zero to a model not only in the parish, but in the state… She is a outstanding teacher, parent and community leader.”— Perry Knox, Principal, College Oaks Elementary
“Sheryl has always looked upon new projects as a challenge; she sees no job as an impossible one. She is very energetic and has effectively combined intelligence and endurance in her devotion to the teaching profession.”— Mary Y. Huber, Colleague, College Oaks Elementary