Shea Smith is beginning her 25th year in education — and her tenth in Vestavia Hills City Schools. A longtime elementary and middle school teacher, she currently teaches fourth grade at Vestavia Hills Elementary East. Her son, Cade, is a senior at Vestavia Hills High School.

Q: What do you enjoy most about teaching?

A: The thing I love most about teaching is building relationships with my students, watching them grow and achieve during the school year and as they progress through life. But most of all, I love getting to use my creativity to make the things that challenge them fun and interesting.

Q: What inspired you to become a teacher?

A: My parents always said they knew I would be a teacher early on — I came home from school and "played school" constantly. The older I got, the mor

See Full Page