Golden Apple Award: Gretchen Shively, Cloud Springs Elementary

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – Gretchen Shively is a ray of sunshine at Cloud Springs Elementary. At least one parent calls Ms. Shively the best self-contained special needs teacher that she has ever met. We decided to surprise Ms. Shively in her classroom with this week’s Golden Apple Award.

Lori Welborn is the Principal at Cloud Springs.

She says, “ Ms. Shively is amazing. I have known her for several years. This is a new position for her, and she is really shining in this new position. This is kind of her sweets pot, and we were excited to put her in this new position this year.” 

When asked to describe herself, Ms. Shively says, “I’m just someone who loves kids and I advocate for all kids, regardless of ability. I have a husband of almost 20 years and three kids and they support me all the time in everything I do.  I was really raised around special needs kids. My mother was a private duty nurse and my dad was a special education teacher. So, I was always around this population of students, and it was just a very natural career choice for me.” 

Brandy West is the Para Pro Specialist for Cloud Springs. 

She says, “She is great. She loves her job. She makes me feel comfortable working with these kids. She gives me the tools to teach them.” 

Principal Welborn says, ” We’ve got amazing therapists and my teaching assistants. They’re all wonderful. I love seeing all the progress my students make. Even when it seems small, it’s big for them. From the moment we get here until the moment we leave, we are always working on communication skills, we’re working on self- help skills, we’re working on academic skills. So, we are very busy all the time.” 

Ms. Shively concludes, “I love the kids. I love the staff that I work with. I have an amazing staff that every day we work together for these kids. I definitely couldn’t do it without them.”