Shane joined the Miner team as a Special Education Paraprofessional. He said, “I came here because it is closer to where I live, and I want to be able to participate in my daughter’s education not just watch from the sidelines.” Shane has two children, AJ (22) and Aryana (12) who attends Trinidad Middle School.
Shane was born in Walsenburg, Colorado and was the last baby delivered in Walsenburg. He lived in New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Florida, Oregon and California (his father was a long-haul truck driver). At the age of 17, he graduated from Palisade High School, Colorado early to go in the Marine Corps. He served five years of active duty stationed at Camp Pendleton, California.
After his service in the Marine Corps, he worked in California before moving to Oklahoma where he worked as a substitute teacher during the 2006-2007 school year. He has been in education for 18 years, most of which was in special education. Most recently he worked as a paraprofessional at Walsenburg School District. He shared, “I heard of the program where Para’s are given the opportunity to teach while they finish off school. I jumped at the opportunity, and I am enrolled at Western Colorado University as I am pursuing my Special Education degree. This will be the second year I am teaching while a part of this program.”
Shane shared a memorable experience from when he was in high school, “I took a class from Mr. Scroggins. The class was Comparative Religions, and it was the first class that I can remember being disappointed when it ended. The information was given without bias, and he encouraged us to discuss different aspects of the religions and did not lie to us.”
Lately, working full time and going to school doesn’t leave him much free time, however, when he does find the time, he enjoys spending time with his wife and daughter. He loves videogames and has been a gamer since the original Nintendo. Currently he plays Civilization VI on console and Beat Saber on the Oculus. For students who like reading he recommends the series The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. His ultimate guilty pleasure is Anime. He has been to Comicon a few times.
Shane dreams of going to Ireland and Scotland to see the old places. He shared, “History is awesome to me and ancient European history is one of the most entertaining things to research especially since many of our ancestors come from that region.” But, since COVID he has no desire to fly in an airplane.
Welcome Shane Johnson!