LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Beth Shurtleff was nominated by her principal, Sara Ankrapp.

Ms. Shurtleff is a second-year music teacher who did amazing things in the classroom and with her school chorus in 2016-17. She wrote original music for programs that highlighted her students' talents.

She started her first year with the attitude that she should expect respect. She finished the year with the attitude that she must earn it.

"Ms. Shurtleff realized that our students, many who come from lives of poverty and stress, need to be taught these lessons and be shown how much we love and care for them. We spoke as a full faculty about these things, as we have every year, but with a new purpose," Ankrapp said.

This summer, Ms. Shurtleff found a book that taught her and her colleagues how to work with children who are having difficulty. The book became summer reading that Ankrapp expects will help teachers hit the ground running with students at the start of the year.

Additonally, Ms. Shurtleff decided that her school needed to be more inviting to the whole community, so she developed a plan to redecorate and beautify her school. She recruited most of the faculty to give up one day each week, all summer long. They painted the walls and doors to brighten the building and give it some character. Ms. Shurtleff and her colleagues painted murals, added pictures, and wrote quotes to make the students and their families feel welcome and excited to be there.

“Ms. Shurtleff energized the whole faculty to provide a safe, welcoming environment for students to learn and feel appreciated,” Ankrapp said. “We have plans in place to teach our students the skills they are lacking so they can all feel successful and so all students build strong relationships with their teachers. She has given us the drive to be change agents for our students.”