March’s Center Spotlight shines on the Panthers Classroom! Our newest teacher Ms. Khali Shaw has lead her class through so many adventures this year so far and worked to increase parent engagement.

Ms. Khali is a Native Texan, born and raised in Dallas. She moved to Utah to attend BYU and graduated in December 2017 with her BA in Early Childhood Education. While at BYU she got married and had her daughter, Jenny. From Utah they moved to Wyoming, and embraced the cold and snow. In May 2019, they made the move back to Texas and made a home here in College Station. Ms. Khali loves traveling, especially to Utah to enjoy the mountains, fresh air, and hiking with her husband. She is also a Disney fanatic and frequently travel to Orlando to take in some magic. She and her daughter love baking together and almost always have fresh muffins in the house. They can also be found snuggling on the couch with Ms. Khali’s childhood cat.

Ms. Khali says she feels like she has found her home here at Becky Gates and said, “One of the main reasons I chose to be in the teaching profession is because I really love spending my time with the children. I find myself being taught new things by the children all the time. They have such wisdom that many do not get the chance to see, but I get to see it. I get the privilege of watching them grow and blossom and become someone uniquely their own. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my days.”

The Panthers celebrated the 100th Day of School with many fun counting activities to help understand the milestone. Ms. Khali created games to help the Panthers understand how much 100 is. Ms. Khali said, “On our 100th day we just had fun (and also learned, but they didn’t know it)! I created a board game for them to play with each other. We built structures with a set of 100 materials like Legos and cups. We made a trail mix made out of 100 snack pieces. We did 100 exercises. We created a 100th day collaborative mural with 100 smiling faces. The day was non-stop and the kids were all smiles. I was very excited I could create this day for them.”

The Panther’s classroom also welcomed parent volunteers to help teach them about the Lunar New Year on January 25th. The classroom was decorated to celebrate the holiday and the event on the whole helped the children foster an appreciation for culture. A good portion of the Panthers classroom are students who celebrate Lunar New Year. Ms. Khali felt it was really important to have representation for the students in your classroom.

The Panthers took the time to talk about Christmas and Hanukkah, and Lunar New Year was the next holiday to learn about. It was a really exciting time in the classroom. Parents were ecstatic to come into the classroom. Ms. Khali asked for one or two volunteers, and every family that celebrates this holiday told her they wanted to help in some way. We had families donate their personal decorations so Ms. Khali could decorate the classroom. One family donated books for the Panthers to read. Other families came in and taught us things like how the animals got chosen for the zodiac, how to write “spring” in Chinese, the significance and meaning of the red banners on the sides of the doors, and a traditional bow to our elders. The students had a blast and still talk about it.

Ms. Khali said that her main hope for her students is “that they know that they are strong, brave, thoughtful human beings who are capable of pushing limits and doing hard things.”

We can’t wait to see what is next for the Panthers!