#2: Kimberly Shope, 35 years

Community service adviser Kimberly Shope graduated from Southern Huntingdon County High School and Penn State University. For Shope, after growing up in a small town with almost 100 students in a graduating class, Altoona was something to get used to. 

Besides working at the high school, Shope served as the assistant principal at Keith Junior High. She has been involved in numerous activities since she first started. 

“I have been serving as the department chairman for the social studies department for many years. I am one of the student council advisers, and I’ve been doing that the entire time I’ve been here. I was Mock Trial adviser when that first started. I was in charge of AfterGlo and worked with prom for many years. I am also involved in handling the internal accounts for all the school clubs,” Shope said. 

Shope has known all her life that she wanted to be a teacher. 

“I didn’t go into college to study that initially,” Shope said. “Teachers were making $6,000-$10,000 a year, and I couldn’t see that as a sustainable life. I went into political science. When I was in college, the state legislature passed a minimum salary for educators. I remember my dad calling me and saying ‘Are you going to switch now?’ because he remembered that I always wanted to be a teacher so that’s what I did. I’ve also always wanted to teach history because I love history.”

Many of Shope’s best memories came from the field trips.

“I think some of my good memories are when my kids came through. I’ve enjoyed many of the pep rallies and those events. I worked with the marching band for four or five years as the silk adviser, so I enjoyed those trips as well,” Shope said. “I used to take the students in my history class to New York in the fall and to [Washington] D.C. in the spring.”

Shope remembers some former colleagues who have impacted her teaching career. 

“Mr. Aboud, he kind of opened my eyes to a lot of things that teachers could do that when I was growing up they didn’t have in my school. Mr. Shaffer had a large impact on my getting comfortable in this type of environment because I’m not familiar with this type of large school,” Shope said.

Shope’s advice for new teachers is to get involved. 

“The classroom is what brought you here because you have a love for a particular content, but that is only a part of teaching. I think the activities really enhance the role of teaching. I’ve had students who have been in my class but also in the club that I dealt. That relationship really expands and you really get to know each other a little more. I think it gives a new perspective as an educator to just be more well rounded as far as in the class and outside of the class,” Shope said.