My name is Laura Shattuck. I live in Lewiston, Maine. I have two sons, one who still lives at home. My good friend Cindy shares our apartment and expenses. I am currently considered disabled because of interstitial lung disease but my health is improving. I have over 10 years teaching experience in elementary grades and kindergarten. I took a break after I had my second son because I wanted to enjoy my son's early years. It was during that time that I started having health issues. My oldest son inspired me to use the time to expand my education and it has been one of the best experiences of my life.
My specialization in the Master's Program is Families and Children. It is my hope that if I am unable to return to teaching, I might be able to do social work and still facilitate learning in family settings. Although my dream is to teach in a Head Start or Preschool setting eventually.
We currently attend a church that is very involved in social justice issues. Our building is in the middle of downtown Lewiston. We are currently reaching out to the homeless and work with groups that want to put an end to human trafficking. I forsee that one of the ministries of the church may be to start a day care or preschool that is dedicated to supporting families of single parent families or low income families with both working families.
I have numerous hobbies. I love to walk, and do aerobics, although my health problems mean I have to go slower and be less aggressive with my work outs. I love to read. Some of my favorite authors are John Grisham, Ken Follett, and C.S. Lewis. I collect earrings. This is facilitated by my friend Heather who works in a jewelry store. I love getting together with family and friends. I love large family gatherings and since my both of my brothers and their families live good distances away, I have adopted Cindy's children, grandchildren and her sisters.
I have had many wonderful positive  people in my life but I think the experience that inspired me most to be a teacher was negative. On the first day of school, I woke up with an ear infection and even though I had a history of infections my mother insisted that I accompany my twin sister to school. The pain at times was unbearable causing to revert to tears often. At first my teacher tried to comfort me but then she started making fun of me in front of the class. It was bad enough that my mother didn't believe me, take my temperature or give me pain reliever, but having the teacher make fun of me in front of the class was unbearable. Finally when I got home from school and I didn't want to go with my mom to my favorite store, she believed me and took me to the doctor only to find out that I really had an ear infection. The teacher never apologized to me even privately. I had many problems with this teacher and my experiences in first grade vastly effected my educational experiences. However, this did prompt me to want to become a teacher and specialize in early childhood education where I could hopefully help children have better early educational experiences than what I had in first grade.

Laura