Shanna Peeples - The Outwords Archive

Shanna and her father Mike Foust in the backyard of their first house, Borger, TX, 1965. Photo courtesy of Shanna Peeples.

Shanna Peeples (in a #15 football jersey) and Dena Warren (in a Texas Tech t-shirt) attending a birthday party, Borger, TX, 1974. Shanna shares, “I was recognizing my gender nonconformity alongside the default of proper Texas femininity.” Photo courtesy of Shanna Peeples.

A yearbook portrait of Shanna Peeples during her senior year of high school, Borger, TX, 1983. Shanna shares, “I was attempting to rock the home perm my Meemaw assured me makes me look like a lady.” Photo courtesy of Shanna Peeples.

Shanna Peeples and her last class of graduating seniors, Amarillo, TX, May 2015. Shanna shares, “I requested special leave as the National Teacher to attend their graduation week festivities at Palo Duro High School.” Photo courtesy of Shanna Peeples.

Shanna Peeples with a small group of her high school juniors in their classroom in Palo Duro High School, Amarillo, TX, March 2015. Photo courtesy of Shanna Peeples.

President Barack Obama, on a rare walkabout in D.C., with the National Teacher of the Year Shanna Peeples, Washington, DC, 2015. Shanna shares, “He bought me the chai tea that I’m holding.” Photo courtesy of Shanna Peeples.

President Barack Obama presenting Shanna Peeples with the 2015 National Teacher of the Year award during the Rose Garden event, the White House Rose Garden, Washington, DC, April 29, 2015. Photo courtesy of Shanna Peeples.

L-R: Diane Farrington Curtis, Riley Curtis, Savannah Peeples, Emma Peeples, and Shanna Peeples during the National Teacher of the Year Gala, Washington, D.C., April 2015. Shanna shares, “MY family was seated at the head table.” Photo courtesy of Shanna Peeples.

Shanna Peeples, students, and staff at an Israeli high school, Jerusalem, Israel, August 2015. Shanna shares, “This super selfie was taken during my first international trip as an ambassador of U.S. education. The State Department arranged my two-week visit to several countries in the Middle East.” Photo courtesy of Shanna Peeples.

Shanna Peeples with students, Amarillo, TX, Spring 2016. Shanna shares, “This selfie with students was taken right after we read Hansel and Gretel, one of my favorite children’s books. Former students of mine at Palo Duro High School had invited me to come and read to the Camp Fire After School club where they were both working.” Photo courtesy of Shanna Peeples.

Shanna Peeples posing for a social media photo to encourage people to think about becoming teachers, Atlanta, GA, 2016. Photo courtesy of Shanna Peeples.

Emma Peeples (Shanna’s youngest child), Cletta Stall (Shanna’s Meemaw who raised her), Sandra Foust (Shanna’s mother), and Shanna Peeples, celebrating her grandmother’s 95th birthday, Amarillo, TX, 2016. Photo courtesy of Shanna Peeples.

L-R: Colin Foust (brother), Shanna Peeples, and Melanie Waren (sister) in Amarillo, TX, June 2017. Photo courtesy of Shanna Peeples.

Diane Farrington Curtis (Shanna’s partner) visiting Shanna at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 2017. Shanna shares, “We had to live apart for three years while I was getting my doctorate and she was maintaining her practice as a clinical therapist.” Photo courtesy of Shanna Peeples.

Shanna Peeples and Diane Farrington Curtis taking a selfie with a rainbow during their boat ride at Niagara Falls, Niagara Falls, NY, July 2017. Photo courtesy of Shanna Peeples.

Shanna Peeples celebrating National Coming Out Day at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA, October, 11 2017. Shanna shares, “This is the photo I posted on Instagram that caused me to receive messages from queer teachers around the world who found hope in the idea that one day they could be their authentic selves in the classroom.” Photo courtesy of Shanna Peeples.

Shanna Peeples and Diane Farrington Curtis hearing the words, “you may now kiss,” from their friend and pastor during their wedding ceremony, New York, NY, December 27, 2018. Shanna shares, “I got to marry my favorite person in my favorite city.” Photo courtesy of Shanna Peeples.

Shanna Peeples was born on April 16, 1965 in Borger, Texas. After her parents’ divorce, she moved in with her deeply religious grandparents. In high school, Shanna’s classmates would pay her to write love poems for their crushes. Shanna’s days as a young Cyrano gave her an inkling of her feelings for other girls, as well as her passion for storytelling.

After graduation, Shanna first became a disc jockey, then a pet babysitter in Beverly Hills, and finally a feature writer for the Amarillo Globe News back in Texas. As a budding journalist, she scored an interview with Oprah Winfrey, but also enjoyed spotlighting touching local stories. Just as importantly, Shanna had queer colleagues at the newspaper who led happy, ordinary lives. They became her chosen family as well as important points of inspiration.

Shanna married young, to a husband in the Navy, and they had two daughters. When the marriage fell apart, Shanna moved in with her mother at age 30. During this time, Shanna shifted her dating world to women as she came to terms with being a lesbian. Coming home early one evening, Shanna’s mother stumbled in on Shanna with a girlfriend. Disgusted, her mother proceeded to tell everyone who knew Shanna, including her ex-husband, who immediately threatened to sue her for custody of their children. Soon thereafter, Shanna was diagnosed with cancer. In the hospital, her mother told her the disease was God’s punishment for being a lesbian. From that point forward, one of Shanna’s newspaper colleagues stayed in her hospital room to fend off her mother.

After recovering from surgery, Shanna decided to swap the newsroom for the classroom. When one of her education professors told her she could never be an openly lesbian teacher, Shanna chose to stay closeted at school. She chose to teach at high-poverty schools, which usually meant high number of immigrants from all over the world—the kids that Texas generally didn’t want. Rather than focusing on her students’ hardships and trauma, Shanna focused on their resilience. Every year, she read The Lorax and Hansel and Gretel to her graduating seniors, to remind them that they can defeat their monsters and find their way out of the forest. Her students thrived, and in 2015, Shanna found out she had been named Texas’ Teacher of the Year. A few months later, after a grueling selection process involving multiple interviews and essays, Shanna became the first Texas teacher since 1957 to be named National Teacher of the Year. After the Washington, DC awards ceremony, with her partner Diane and their kids in attendance, Shanna had a lovely stroll and conversation with then-President Barack Obama in the White House Rose Garden.

Finally able to come out as lesbian, Shanna used her national platform to promote culturally responsive teaching for marginalized students, the importance of engaging with underprivileged children through a strength-based lens, and finding brilliance in students beyond the narrow scope of standardized tests.

After winning her national award and being catapulted to national fame, Shanna initially planned to leave Texas behind for greener pastures. In the end, however, she joined the education faculty professor at her alma mater, West Texas A&M University—choosing to effect change where it is needed most, with unfaltering dedication to her mission of education equity.

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