Elise Shelton has a love for school, a love for history and a love for Harry Potter.
At Pinewood Prep, Shelton aims to get her middle school students excited about being at school, to enjoy learning about history and maybe to find joy in running around a field pretending to fly on a broomstick.
Shelton teaches seventh- and eighth-grade social studies at Pinewood Preparatory.
The school has enrichments in seventh period in which teachers can teach a variety of things based on what the students want, and Shelton teaches Quidditch – a class focused on the famous fictional broomstick sport from the Harry Potter series.
Quidditch students play the game by running across a field with broomsticks – Shelton described it as a cross between dodge ball and soccer, except the students are using their hands.
“For middle school, so much of it is just trying to remind them that they do love school, it’s OK to love school, and making sure that they all have at least one adult at the school that they feel comfortable with, that they know they can talk to, and just trying to build relationships – and our enrichments really help with that,” she said.
She also oversees House Council, a new leadership group that unifies the middle school grades. House Council has participated in fundraising efforts such as one to benefit those affected by Hurricane Harvey and planning events like a Turkey Trot. Participating members are sorted into one of four “houses” on the first day: Exploratio, Periculum, Veritas and Paratus.
This is Shelton’s eighth year at Pinewood Preparatory, and her fourth year back since having children. She has taught a total of 12 years.
She is from Kings Mountain, North Carolina. She studied political science at Lenoir-Rhyne University and minored in history. She got her master’s at the University of North Carolina – Charlotte. She has served as an adjunct professor at Winthrop University, Trident Technical College and Charleston Southern University, where she is still an adjunct professor.
Shelton studied abroad in college and spent time in Wales and Russia. She started her teaching career at Charleston Collegiate.
Growing up, Shelton said she had some amazing history teachers, and that always made her interested in it.
“If you love school then being a teacher’s super cool…because you never have to leave school,” she said. “I still get excited about Homecoming, I still dress up for Spirit Week…I just loved all of school, so school is the perfect place for me.”
In her class, Shelton said she tries to get her students to understand cause and effect and understand the significance in history.
“If you go into high school, already hating history, it’s done,” she said. “But if you can go into your high school history courses thinking that you love history, then you’re going to love it.
“I want them to leave middle school thinking that history is one of their favorite classes and that they can’t wait for history,” she said.
Shelton said the most frustrating experience with teaching is when a student is struggling to grasp something they are learning in class.
“That’s, I think, the hardest, is just when they can’t get the grade that you know they want, and you know they tried for it, and it just doesn’t get there,” she said.
Shelton said she is really enjoying working with House Council.
“I got so excited about school and about school stuff, it’s exciting to see these kids so excited about planning activities for the school,” she said.
At Pinewood Prep, Shelton also handles the memberships for Junior Beta Club. She was Teacher of the Year for 2015-2016. She has been nominated to be a Master Teacher through the South Carolina Independent School Association – schools can nominate two candidates.
Her professional goal is to make children love school and history.
“That sounds so simple, but if can love school and love learning, you can do that lifelong,” she said. “In history, I’d like for them just to realize that most problems aren’t new. They’re different, but they’re not new.
“I’d just like for them to be able to take history and see how they apply it,” she said.
Shelton has two sons: 8-year-old Brian and 5-year-old James, a second-grader and kindergartener at Pinewood Prep, respectively.
Shelton enjoys reading historical fiction and doing outdoors stuff with her sons, like hiking, camping and swimming. Both boys like to play baseball, so Shelton said they spend a lot of time at the ball field. They live in Summerville. They are also really involved in St. Luke’s Lutheran church.
Her life goal is to be a good example for her children and her students and “to raise…my children to have integrity and kindness.”
Shelton said her favorite thing about Pinewood Prep is the family atmosphere.
“It’s an amazing thing to be a part of,” she said.
