For many students, teachers are more than just educators; they are role models and sources of inspiration. Shishonee Hughes (she/her), science teacher, embodies all of these qualities through her dedication to teaching, coaching and leading the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA).
Hughes’s passion for science helps her create a collaborative and fun classroom, making complex concepts easier to understand.
“Working with kids one-on-one and seeing them figure a problem out that they could not solve before is awesome. Honestly, I realized in high school, when one of my teachers let us teach the class for a unit, that I was passionate about teaching,” said Hughes.
Hughes strives to create an engaging learning environment where students are encouraged and comfortable to go to her with questions.
Beyond the classroom, Hughes takes her passion for teaching to the volleyball court. She started coaching again this past school year (2023-24) for the first time in 19 years.
She began her coaching experience at West High School, where she first started teaching. She decided to retire from coaching after getting pregnant with her oldest son.
“Volleyball is a big part of my life. I had played volleyball at UNI, and it was a big part of me. My hometown went to state every year, so when I first started teaching, I knew I wanted to be a volleyball coach,” said Hughes.
Hughes’ coaching style focuses both on skill development and personal growth.
“I really focus on mental coaching. [For example,] ‘When something doesn’t go well, how do you respond to that?’ We talk about what your non-verbals look like, we talk about what you say to your teammates and to yourself, and we talk about what the next steps are to help you get out of that situation that did not go great,” said Hughes.
In addition to teaching and coaching, Hughes is involved in FCA. FCA is a non-denominational group for Christian students who want to have fellowship and learn about the Bible at school. Because it is student-directed, students can participate in a religiously affiliated club. Hughes is not in charge of putting her values and beliefs on students, but she allows them to grow in their faith.
“My faith is very important to me, and I thought that would be a way that I could help support kids here at Liberty,” stated Hughes.
What Hughes wants students in FCA to take away is that shortcomings do not define them.
“The biggest part of FCA is for kids to ground their identity in Christ, not their identity as an athlete. Life is going to be tough and throw you obstacles, but if your identity is grounded in your faith, you can get past that a lot easier and realize that the mistakes you made are okay,” expressed Hughes.
Through her hard work and heart for students, Mrs. Hughes is leaving a lasting impact one lesson, one practice and one conversation at a time.
