DALLAS – A few minutes before 8:45 a.m. Tuesday, Shelley McClellan was in the hallway at Allen High School, greeting students as they straggled into her first-period English class.
As students settled into their seats, McClellan talked them through the writing prompt for a short assignment they would work on for the first five minutes of class. The class had been talking for several days about the concept of the American dream. On Tuesday, they were writing about their own dreams, particularly what they hoped their careers and family lives would look like in 10 years.
It was something McClellan had been thinking about in her own life as well. She is in the midst of a career change. In 2024, McClellan, then an administrative assistant at Allen High School, joined a program designed to get district support staff trained and certified as teachers. After spending more than a decade working in other roles in the district, she is a little more than halfway through her first year as a teacher and a few months from earning her teaching certificate…