Hello! My name is Shelly Powers. I graduated from Palm Beach Atlantic College in 1989 with a dual major in English and Elementary Education (and one class away from a minor in Spanish). I started my education career in the public school system of Palm Beach County, Florida, teaching high school and middle school English for one year each. After becoming a mother in 1991, I left my job teaching and stayed home full time with my new son, Clayton. As Clayton grew, it became obvious that God was calling my husband and me to homeschool. After much research and more than a few bouts of soul searching, I started my homeschool career when Clay turned 5. Our daughter, Danae, was born in 1993 and our second son, Cody, was born in 1999. I home educated all three from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.

I  discovered classical education and began teaching history in order using this language-based method. It not only organized our overall learning experience, but it helped us interrelate our studies of history, literature, and science. By the time Clay was in middle school, we added Latin, and this solidified our classical approach and prepared my children for their high school and college endeavors. I believe this foundation in Latin is one of the main reasons all three have gone on to be “A” students in Spanish at the college level. I began to teach high school and middle school Latin, at first to a few families, then to homeschool co-op classes. I have taught Latin now for 18 years using The Latin Road to English Grammar, Cambridge Latin, Oxford Latin and Lively Latin.

Clay now has his Masters in English from the University of Tennessee Chattanooga and is teaching in the English department at UT as well as working as a technical writer for Siemens. Danae received a general AA and another AA in the Business Management track at Pellissippi Community College, and is now a licensed insurance professional working as a client manager at Trinity Benefit Advisors in Knoxville. Cody has completed an AS in the Physical Therapy Assistant program at South College, received state certification in TN and VA, and is enjoying being a Physical Therapy Assistant in Fairfax, VA.  As I reflect,  I can see all God has taught me through their homeschooling years, and I use these lessons to teach others.

Somewhere along the way, I also discovered the joy of teaching.  God has gifted me in this area, and when I am teaching I am in my most comfortable place. Others have seen it too, and we have included their testimonials on this site.

I look forward to sharing my love of writing, literature, and the English, Latin, and Spanish languages with students of the Powers Classical School.

~Shelly Powers