I have the honor of recommending Patricia Shelley to the Fayette County School Corporation Education Hall of Fame. Pat was an outstanding teacher, a supportive colleague, and my friend for most of her twenty-five years of dedicated service at Alquina Elementary School.

Pat’s professionalism and devotion to teaching permeated all that she did. She was conscientious and thorough in every task. You had to get up very early in the morning to arrive at school before Pat. She spent days teaching and preparing lessons, nights grading papers, and a periodic Sunday working at school on the upcoming week’s work. All this planning was reflected in a beautifully organized room from the closets to the shelves, from her desk drawers to the file cabinet. While most of us copied worksheets to be used in the next day or two, Pat was working weeks ahead. She had completed testing first semester’s benchmarks and was already testing those for second semester.

Pat was committed to helping her students achieve. She looked for new approaches and methods to support her teaching. She incorporated ideas she gleaned from books, workshops, and teacher resources on the internet. During her career Pat spent thousands of dollars of her own money on materials for her classroom. She gave her time at recess and after school to provide students with extra help. Children who arrived in Miss Shelley’s class who were below level often made tremendous gains thanks to Pat’s instruction and perseverance.

The atmosphere in her classroom was quiet, orderly, purposeful, and engaged. She was quite firm, but gentle with a good sense of humor. She shared her love of reading and history with her students. Pat gave her students her best whether she was teaching them multiplication using unifix cubes, creating individual life-size illustrations of the human body, organizing literature discussion for cooperative groups, designing salt and flour maps, mailing pen pal letters to England, or dressing up as "Viola Swamp" from the book Miss Nelson is Missing.

While many people wear emblems that say, "Children First," Pat truly put her children first. She visited her classroom the day before she died to check on things and pick up more papers to grade. We have lost an exemplary teacher in Pat Shelley. Our hearts are bereft in her sudden departure from us. Her dedication still inspires and motivates us to continue on in this difficult time. Her impact on her students and colleagues is immeasurable. She is truly worthy of the honor of being in the Fayette County School Corporation Education Hall of Fame.

Ginny Schultz