My Story

Shelita M Shaw began her teaching career over 20 years ago; and matriculated her way from primary and secondary schools to the collegiate level. She is on sabbatical throughout the rest of the year to address/research Mental Health in Higher Education. Her goal is to take this time to nurture a better understanding of the way young adults, specifically ages 18-25, experience mental health; More specifically, observe how black students and black educators experience mental health, especially since my introduction to mental health came while attending the HBCU, Johnson C. Smith University. The truth is there are things we notice about each other that perhaps nobody else will, not even their parents. Shelita focuses a large part of her curriculum on Mental Health Education; creating workshops and projects including anti-bully campaigns and incorporating mental health days into her curriculum for students and teachers to take a break to ensure Classroom Wellness. 

As Shelita has focused on Mental Health education, she spent a couple years co-teaching Black Male Leadership at Cook County Department of Corrections. This served as an opportunity to pour into the (often forgotten) incarcerated population. Currently, Shelita travels across the country speaking on Classroom Wellness and being the voice of teachers and their mental health.  This journey has led her to become a contributor in the American Psychology Associations, The Monitor, a guest commentator on WVON Radio, a guest artist and storyteller with Erasing the Distance, as well as a featured guest on multiple popular podcasts including “Dumb. Gay. Politics.” and “One Story At A Time”.

Shelita earned her B.A. in English from Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina; and her M.A. in English from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio, where she graduated magna cum laude. Currently, Shelita teaches Composition and Literature courses at Moraine Valley Community College, where she was awarded tenure in spring of 2010: Innovator of the Year 2018; Professor of the Year nominee 2018 and 2019.

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