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February 8, 2010

Carney principal passionate about English

By Sarah Morris Stillwater NewsPress

Carney, Okla. — With a love of English, David Shelton of Carney said it was a natural progression for him to decide to take his passion into the classroom and eventually into administration.

It is his third year at Carney High School. The high school principal said it is his fourth year as an administrator. He was previously a secondary English teacher for grades 6-12 for seven years.

“I’ve always enjoyed kids,” the Perry native said. “I liked the idea of helping someone go on and improve their live through education. That appealed to me.”

His time as a student teacher clinched the decision for him. Shelton received his bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma State University in secondary education with an emphasis in secondary English.

“Seeing some of the students get the same little spark is when I realized this is something that I want to do,” Shelton said. It is a feeling that has progressed over the years. “

Starting in Enid for his first year of teaching, he moved to Perry Middle School for six years. He then left the classroom to get a master degree at OSU while working as a university cooperative extension specialist.

“I only planned to do that job to finish my masters,” Shelton said. “It was a big leap just to get outside of the classroom and I wanted to see if I could survive outside the classroom.”

He later received his master’s degree in curriculum and instruction.

Shelton said he finally headed back into the classroom in answer to an itch to get back into education. However, this time he entered as an administrator first as Maud Public Schools for a year then at Carney. He currently does not teach at Carney schools.

Carney English teacher Brandon Christy said he enjoys working under Shelton. It is his second year to be teaching.

“I think it is great,” Christy said. “He is very professional. He cares a lot for the students and cares a lot for the teachers. All the qualities you would want in a administrator he is.”

Throughout Shelton’s career, he said there were several fond memories he had. One such memory was when he left Maud Public Schools.

“Towards the end of the year, the students took saran wrap and of course shoe polish and they wrapped my car and shoe polished all my windows with ‘sorry to see you leave’ and decorated my office,” Shelton said.

The students then dedicated that year’s play to him in a speech at the end.

“That was probably the most touching of all that I remember and I won’t forget,” Shelton said.

When not at school, Shelton said he enjoyed visiting state parks with his family.

“We go camping and that’s my favorite thing to do,” he said. Shelton also loves to read.

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