Shelby Kriech is a teacher at Ponca City High School. And while she enjoys being an educator, she was hesitant to enter that career field in the beginning.
“Initially, I wasn’t sure I wanted to become an educator,” she said. “But overtime I kept being in a teaching or coaching role. I remember during my masters program I was asked to teach an undergraduate lab and I really enjoyed it. Those instances helped me decide on becoming an educator.”
Kriech teaches Pre-AP Biology to freshmen and sophomores and also Biology to sophomores. This is her fourth year as a teacher at Ponca City. She says that even though she is a teacher, the learning never stops.
“I enjoy that being an educator allows my students and I to continue to learn as well as provide a fun, engaging learning environment,” she said.
There have been a number of people that have helped shape Shelby in to the teacher that she is today.
“Mrs. Gross, my English teacher, and Mrs. Ferris, my anatomy and kinesiology teacher, were two teachers who made a big impact on me,” she recalled. “I have also been given different pieces of advice to help me along the way, but there is one that has really stuck with me. It was to be myself, not to lie to the students, and to challenge yourself because once you do that, the students will learn from you.”
Shelby has been married to her husband, Jacob, for two years. When she is not in the classroom, she has other ways that she enjoys to spend her time.
“I enjoy coaching soccer, hanging out with family and friends, and going on adventures with my husband.”
Kriech concludes with, “Although being an educator wasn’t always what I set my mind to that I wanted to be, I could not be happier. A scripture I always remember is Philippians 4:6, which says, ‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God’”.
