Most people have only ever read about trekking across a mountain range or going on a safari across Africa in novels, but English teacher Heidi Shannahan has already done that — and plans on continuing her adventures after retiring at the end of the 2022-23 school year, she said. Shannahan has taught at MHS for 35 years and first joined MUSD because it was a visionary school district, she said.
After retirement, Shannahan plans to volunteer, spend time on hobbies like hiking, sailing, and gardening, and travel as she had in the past, she said.
“We (my husband and I) backpacked through China, we trekked through Nepal, we took a freighter around the tip of South America,” Shannahan said. “So we just want to be able to enjoy our later years having those adventures.”
Growing up, Shannahan attended Lynbrook High School in San Jose, where she participated in sports, cheerleading, clubs, and student government, she said. After high school, Shannahan attended De Anza College, where she joined the dance company and spent about six hours a day dancing, she said. She does not take dance lessons anymore, but dances at occasions like weddings, she added.
“I had been taking dance classes since I was five years old — ballet, tap, jazz, modern dance, everything,” Shannahan said. “I just loved dancing.”
After a year at De Anza College, Shannahan transferred to the UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) as an intended dance major, she said. At UCSB, however, Shannahan decided to pursue an English major after attending classes with life-changing professors, she said.
“We’d have these tiny little classes of 15 kids, and we’d sit around and talk about a poem or a book,” Shannahan said. “I felt like I was not only learning about my world, but I was learning about myself, and I was learning how to write, and I was learning how to process everything that was happening around me.”
Shannahan vividly recalled one of her English professors, Homer Swander. In his class, she auditioned for and performed Shakespeare’s “Merchants of Venice” play in front of an audience, she said.
“He had this long hair, and he wore this beret, and he had an earring, and he was the Shakespeare guy,” Shannahan said. “I took a class with him and absolutely loved it. He would act out scenes in front of the class, and we’d have to read the plays in great depth.”
Shannahan received her teaching credential for English at San Francisco State University, taught for three years at Rancho Milpitas Middle School, and spent the rest of her career at MHS, where she was also the English department chair for 14 non-consecutive years, she said. Her favorite part of teaching is when she sees a student reach an epiphany about a concept or book, she said.
“You get goosebumps; you get this big smile on your face, and you’re like, ‘Yeah! They’ve gotten it,’” Shannahan said.
“The Catcher in the Rye” is one of Shannahan’s favorite books in the English curriculum because it is relatable and well-written, but she also recommends “All the Light We Cannot See” for personal reading, she said. On a school day, Shannahan typically wakes up at 4:30 a.m., comes to school at around 7 a.m. to prepare for the day and talk to students, teaches, and goes home to spend time with her husband, she said.
“After class, you can go and ask her anything about the book and start up a conversation with her,” said junior Natasha Tiwari, who has been Shannahan’s student for two years. “There have been so many days during class where we would go over time … because we would just be analyzing the book so much.”
Shannahan’s class is very judgment-free, and Shannahan has helped Tiwari truly love literature, Tiwari said. Over the summer, Tiwari even exchanged postcards and emails with Shannahan discussing various books, Tiwari said.
“I really wish I would have gotten her for a third year, and, even if not as a teacher, somebody I can go and talk to,” Tiwari said. “At the same time, I think she deserves it (retirement). She’s helped so many people here, and she’s been here for so long that I think she deserves a break now.”
In addition to teaching, Shannahan is an advisor to clubs like The Arras Periodical and has mentored other teachers, Shannahan said.
Shannahan was English teacher Audrey Yang’s mentor during her first year of teaching in the 2019-20 school year, Yang said. Shannahan was a voice of reason and a confidence booster when Yang felt overwhelmed by her long to-do list, Yang said. She admires Shannahan for being an emotionally capable, put-together person, Yang added.
“Her hair is always perfect,” Yang said. “From a literature perspective, her hair is a symbol of how she runs her life — perfect, in-line, put together.”
Shannahan prepares students to face the challenges of life after high school, Yang said.
“With a career like teaching, it’s easy to get stuck,” Yang said. “The job is so demanding that, oftentimes, one of the ways to make the job manageable is to keep using the same things every year and never change it up. But Mrs. Shannahan has always been super open to new ideas … It’s been very inspiring to see, as a teacher who’s starting out her career, a teacher who’s finishing up her career that still holds that interest and that hunger and that desire to try new things.”
Shannahan will most miss interacting with her students after retiring, she said.
“I’m going to miss my room. I’m going to miss the kids. I’m going to miss the great teachers that are here that I’ve spent a lot of time with,” Shannahan said. “So it hasn’t been an easy decision. I know that it’s time, but it’s always sad to see something come to an end.”