Pushing for Positivity

From English department chair to Student Council adviser, Shelly Parks fits the hat of many roles. She works to do everything to the best of her ability and always has a smile doing it. She spreads her positive attitude through the school environment.

“I think North gets a bad reputation in some ways, but there is so much good going on,” Parks said.

Parks teaches the new AP Foundations class, a class for students who feel they need or want extra help with AP classes. Along with Parks are a few student tutors who are proficient in a core area of study. This semester, seniors Leah Chaney, Connor Gallagher and Kate Wiley are the tutors. They help in the class as a study hall while counting it as A+ hours, and they work with the students individually. Parks and the tutors teach skills for the students to use not only in class, but in their lives.

“I think it’s nice for them to have us constantly motivating them,” Chaney said. “We always check up on them and encourage them to do the best they can.”

The students learn a wide variety of topics, from how to study to how to write an email and even how to look into future careers. Parks was originally worried about teaching the class because it was not necessarily her area of expertise, but she now enjoys the class and is excited to teach it again next year.

The class helps boost the students’ confidence, according to Parks. Many of them are taking another AP class next year based on the skills they learned this year. Some students in the class who were not considering college before are now looking into the idea. Even though the students came in at varying levels of interest in school, Parks has helped them look at the positives in their lives and push themselves to do more.

“She helps them with school the same as we do, but she also pushes them to not give up and keep trying,” Chaney said.

Along with AP Foundations, Parks pushes to focus on the positives through an all-female prayer group for teachers at FHN. The prayer group started in 2010 and has been around at different times. It has been a while since it has been in place, but Parks recently decided to start it back up. She and Jani Wilkens had been listening to a simulcast called IF:Gathering, an online conference for Christian women, and it reminded her that there are so many people going through different situations at school that she felt led to starting it back up.

“It is definitely making us feel more connected with each other, which is really cool,” Parks said.

The prayer group started up in February, and they meet once a month in Parks’ room before or after school on Fridays. They share concerns happening in their lives or in the school and then they pray about it. They pray for students, for the district and even to be better teachers and to help students as they need it. There are about 25-30 people in the group at the moment and any female staff members are welcome to join. They have a Facebook page called “FHN Prayer Group,” where they can talk about anything and the others will pray for them. Parks works to focus on the positives instead of the negatives throughout the school environment.

“We are wanting to channel worries into something positive,” Parks said.