Shireen Saah remembers every teacher she had in Knox County Schools. Now, as a teacher at West Hills Elementary, she hopes to leave the same lasting impression on her second graders.
"Teaching is obviously so much more than just academics and growth percentages and test scores," Saah told Knox News. "It is about making the children in your care feel loved and taken care of."
Saah is a Knoxville native, graduating from Bearden High School in 2018. Before that, she attended Fountain City Elementary, A. L. Lotts Elementary and West Valley Middle. She designed her career to bring her back to the district she loves.
"(All of my teachers) made me feel very respected in the classroom, very loved, very taken care of. Every school I went to also felt very close-knit,
and that was something that really stuck with me," she said.
Why Shireen Saah chose teaching − and to stay in KCS
This feeling of closeness stuck with her through her 13 years attending KCS − so much so that she decided to become a teacher herself. Saah didn't have to move too far for college at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, and made a quick return to her hometown.
She became a substitute teacher in college and spent time in over 30 schools in Knox County, she said. Oddly, she hadn't set foot into West Hills in all those years.
Take care of your back-to-school shopping!
Saah then spent her intern year − teaching under the mentorship of another teacher in a classroom − at West Hills, and she knew this was where she wanted to make her mark.
The West Hills community, she said, is "so special and so unique." The elementary school is nestled within the neighborhood of the same name off Kingston Pike, surrounded by ranch-style homes built in the 1950s.
"Because it's in the neighborhood, just walking down the street to the park, I'm recognizing families and they're recognizing each other," Saah said. "That's why I've wanted to stay at West Hills for as long as I have. I've grown to love this community so much."
In deciding where she would land a full-time gig post-grad, Saah said it was a "very easy decision." She noticed that schools not only had a strong community base, but connections with other campuses across Knox County.
"With Knox County having over 90 schools, you'd think it'd be more difficult to build those relationships and the community aspect with other schools. That was something that I noticed very quickly being in so many schools. And I knew I wanted to stay a part of it," said Saah.
'I can do my best to make sure I'm giving them what they need'
Now heading into her fourth year of teaching, Saah is ready to make her new batch of students feel at home in her very pink classroom, adorned with pink tennis balls as chair stoppers, pink wall coverings, pink storage containers and a bright mirror lined with positively pink affirmations.
And that's fundamental to her teaching philosophy. Her classroom is a safe space for her students, a place where she can exude positivity.
"First and foremost, I make sure that the eight hours that they're in these four walls, they feel all the things that they may not be feeling at home," said Saah. "I've come to terms with the fact that I cannot control what happens at home. And that's something I've struggled with, honestly."
Whether it's packing extra snacks or buying a jacket for a student without one, Saah supports her kids.
"Those are things I've done and things that I'll continue to do because when they are taken care of, they are able to perform better in the classroom," she said. "Not every day's going to be perfect, of course, but I can at least do my best to make sure that I'm giving them what they need."
Saah says her return to KCS goes beyond her students.
"If you're a parent with a student in my class, and you have a teacher who has been here their whole life and who really has invested so much of themselves into the county, I think that makes a bigger impact," Saah said. "I really valued and respected what Knox County stands for and I really wanted to be a part of it as an educator, not just a student."
Caitlyn Meisner is the K-12 education reporter for Knox News. Email tips and story ideas to caitlyn.meisner@knoxnews.com.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: She returned to Knox County Schools to make every kid feel 'very loved'
