Shanna Peeples, the 2015 National Teacher of the Year, took the road less travelled on the way to her classroom. She worked as a disc jockey, medical assistant, and journalist before teaching, as she says, chose her.

Shanna taught middle and high school English in low-income schools in Amarillo, Texas for 14 years. Currently, Shanna is an Equity and Access Fellow in residency at the Council of Chief State School Officers to complete a doctorate in Education Leadership at Harvard Graduate School of Education. At Harvard, she was a Teaching Fellow and is part of two teams: one, an education startup for STEM learning, the other, a leadership consultancy.