EHS Pillars - Spring 2018

SHELLY EDMONDS
History Teacher and Coach
"Field hockey shaped me into the person I am today," says Shelly
Edmonds, history teacher and field hockey coach. Edmonds
started playing the sport when she was in 3rd grade and
continued through college at the University of Virginia.
"In high school, I played for a very competitive school
and club team. My coach didn't accept anything other
than your best. It forced me to push myself mentally
and physically—more than I ever thought I was
capable of," she explains. "As a result, I developed
discipline and resilience. Overall the sport made me
a stronger person, and I realized how much I am
capable of even in the most difficult situations."
Edmonds grew up near Philadelphia in Emmaus,
Pennsylvania, where her parents still live. She is the
third child of four, and during holiday breaks she enjoys
traveling back home or visiting her siblings who live in San
Diego and London. She does have one sibling nearby, an
older sister who lives in Houston.
And though she left Charlottesville over five years ago, Edmonds bleeds
Jefferson Blue, even through NCAA upsets. "UVA was awesome and I will always be a University of Virginia
basketball fan—through the good and the bad!"
What's on your playlist right now? A little bit of everything: Creedence Clearwater, Jack Johnson, Taylor
Swift, The Band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Shania Twain, Dixie Chicks, and Turnpike Troubadours.
What was the first concert you attended? I was a junior in high school, and I saw O.A.R. If you weren't
a teacher, what would you pick for a career? I'd be a yoga instructor on a beach in Mexico. What is your
proudest accomplishment? My junior year in college we beat University of North Carolina to go to the ACC
championship. We ended up losing the championship and later losing to UNC in the Final Four. As much of a
rivalry as I feel toward UNC, that game and that season were my proudest accomplishments. We worked so
hard to build our field hockey team from barely making the NCAA tournament my freshman year to making
it to the Final Four. Do you have a favorite app or tech gadget? I recently made a Pinterest account. Now
I understand what people mean when they say they love and hate Pinterest at the same time. I downloaded
the app for some ideas on how to decorate my apartment for Christmas, and it ended with me trying to
make DIY projects for 10 hours! It was a huge time sucker, but my apartment looked fantastic! Did you have
a mentor growing up who inspired your career? My high school AP U.S. teacher, Mr. Haja. He loved
U.S. history. He made it seem like a story but challenged us to think about how that day's lesson affected or
shaped our lives. I had never worked so hard in a class in my life, and it felt good to put effort in and gain so
much from it. If you could travel back in time, what period of history would you choose? I am interested
in many eras. I would either travel back in time to West Africa during the rise of the trans‐Saharan trade
route in the 1000s‐1200s, or land in Ancient Egypt. What trait do you most admire in your colleagues?
Their willingness to collaborate. If I am looking for a new way to approach an event or time period, there is
always someone willing to share their unique strategy. What trait do you most admire in your students?
Their curiosity. Our students always want to know more about a specific topic or how an event shaped
a current topic. Read any good books recently? Right now I am reading Nudge by Richard Thaler and
Cass Sunstein. It is not a history book, but it is a great book about decision‐making. If you could eat only
one meal this week, what would it be? I am not Polish, but I am Pennsylvania Dutch, and I used to eat
pierogies all the time growing up. If I could have one meal for a whole week, it would probably be homemade
pierogies sautéed with onions.
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