TEACHER: Shellie Gunter

SCHOOL: Spanish Fort Elementary School

SUBJECT TAUGHT: Fifth grade

SOMETHING UNUSUAL ABOUT YOURSELF: In high school I was very involved in the band. I was studying music in college with physical therapy. I practiced my clarinet so much that I didn’t allow my lower jaw to form. I had to have my jaw broken and have surgery. My surgeon told me I could never play my instrument again.

Shellie Gunter has taught at Spanish Fort Elementary School for 17 years, ranging from third to fifth grade and sixth grade English, science and yearbook advisor.

Gunter was in her third year of physical therapy school at the University of South Alabama when she was asked to nanny for the head physical therapist at Mercy Medical. She knew after this experience that she was supposed to be a teacher.

“Something clicked,” Gunter said.

What Gunter likes most about teaching is connecting with her students.

“They are so individual,” she says.

As a four-time cancer survivor, Gunter has a new respect for life and realizes she was put here to teach children.

“These kids were part of my recovery,” she says.

When she isn’t in the classroom, Gunter spends time with her fiancé Ron Hargrove and her two sons Dylan, 15 and Cody, 12.

“I do Zumba, I read and I enjoy my pool,” she says.

Gunter is involved in cancer awareness and fundraisers such as Relay for Life.