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Rio Alum Trades Naval Service for Teaching Career
By Mira Radovich, Senior Contributing Writer
The beauty of life is that nothing is set in stone. You may be on one path, and then by choice or through serendipity, find yourself going in another direction entirely. That is what happened to Shannon Porter.
The Oklahoma native was happy with her decision to pursue a career in the medical field while also serving her country.
“I joined the military to work in the medical field,” Porter said. “I served in the Navy for nine and a half years. I was a Hospital Corpsman and then I became a surgical technologist, and finished my military career working in the operating room.”
She expected her career to continue along those lines.
“I always thought I would go further and become a pediatric nurse,” Porter said. “Then when I got out of the Navy, I became a military spouse. I continued to work as a surgical technologist until my husband was stationed in North Carolina.”
There, Porter applied for work at hospitals in the area, and that is where fate intervened.
“I was hired as a respite worker working with a child that had Autism,” Porter said. “I found that I absolutely fell in love with that type of work.”
Reflecting on her past, Porter realized that this passion had roots in her formative years.
“When I was in the eighth grade, my science teacher, Mrs. Groene, helped me when I was struggling in school and in my home life,” Porter said. “I always knew I wanted to work with children, I just thought it would have been as a nurse.”
After a relocation, Porter finally entered the classroom.
“My husband was transferred again and after, I applied for a job at my daughter’s school to become a paraprofessional,” Porter said. “After a year into working in a specialty classroom, I decided that I wanted to become a teacher.”
Porter learned about Rio Salado College’s Post Baccalaureate teacher certification program, for people who already have a bachelor’s degree.
“I chose Rio’s Teacher in Residence program because it was affordable and I could take my classes online,” Porter said. “I could also continue working as a 5th and 6th grade resource teacher in the Florence Unified School District while attending school.”
Porter’s favorite course was an early field experience class (EFE).
“I really loved my EFE student teaching course because I was able to work with the instructor, Dr. Quinn, who was so supportive and gave wonderful guidance,” Porter said. “In fact, the support I received from my student advisor, the Veterans Affairs advisors, and all of the instructors were absolutely superb.”
Porter completed her coursework in two years, and is now a certified special education teacher. She currently teaches at San Tan Heights Elementary School in Florence, where she enjoys working with children and their parents.
“I love building relationships with the students and the families,” Porter said. “I like to show the parents and kids that there are good teachers who truly care about their success inside and outside the classroom. It definitely takes a village. I learned that through my military career.”
As for the future, Porter is content to stay on her current path… for now.
“My plan is to continue to hone my craft as a resource teacher,” Porter said. “I’m not sure. Maybe one day I will explore becoming a school psychologist. We will see.”