Classroom Cribs: Ms. Shackel

Over her years as a teacher, Ms. Shackel has amassed many special posters which now line her classroom walls. 

The artwork and other items dotting the walls of Ms. Marian Shackel’s room make entering her domain a unique visual experience for all those who enter.  And while some might think they are all for teaching, she jokes that after so many years standing up and teaching, “you learn to make the back wall pleasing to look at.”

As an Advanced Placement English teacher, most of Ms. Shackel’s year is spent pushing her students in order to prepare them for their AP exam come May.  From day one of the school year, her countdown poster hangs aloft for the whole class to see. Unfortunately for this years’ AP students, those 15 remaining days include weekends.    

“I’m a big fan of the impressionists, so I have a couple of impressionist paintings back there,” she explains.  “They’re just appealing.” John Singer Sargent and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, two widely known and popular portrait artists, are featured on her gallery-esque walls.

The large and graphic red poster hanging high on the back wall is of extra importance to Ms. Shackel.

“Someone made it a long time ago, and on it it has the remembrance card of a former CB principal, Rudy Schulz,” she explains.  “I keep it up there because it is a wonderful saying, ‘Take the time to say thanks’ and I was quite thankful to him.”

If you are ever in the mood to discuss literature or look at works of art, stop by Ms. Shcakel’s room and you’ll be in for a treat.