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When an unexpected schedule change disrupted morning arrival at Shauna Curran’s student teaching placement this past January, she watched one of her first graders, who struggled with changes, scan the room until he found her.

She got down to his level, explained the plan, and, as they walked upstairs together, he quietly reached for her hand and held it the whole way up.

“In that moment, I realized he saw me as a safe person,” said Curran (’26), who will be graduating this spring with a bachelor’s in Elementary Education from the 51Ʒ�� and is currently doing student teaching at Biddeford Primary School.

For Curran, hands-on teaching experiences began in her first semester of college, and, by the time she crosses the stage this spring, she will have completed fieldwork in 10 schools across five towns in southern Maine, learning alongside 15 educators.

“The impact of relationships isn’t always immediate or visible in data or assessments, but it is always there… (and) relationships are a huge part of teaching,” said Curran, of Windham, New Hampshire. “Having people to lean on and learn from has shown me how important community is, especially in this profession.”

51Ʒ��education students have been embedded in Biddeford Public Schools for years, explained Krysten Gorrivan, M.S.Ed., associate teaching professor in the School of Education, adding that 51Ʒ��students are a consistent, trusted presence in classrooms, hallways, and the day-to-day life of each of UNE’s partner schools.

“Shauna connected with Biddeford Primary School for her very first field work experience and has consistently participated in field work at BPS ever since,” Gorrivan said. “Over her years in the School of Education, she has grown in so many areas but, most importantly, in her confidence in knowing she is doing the right thing for students.”

Curran double-minored in Special Education and Mental Health Rehabilitation and said she sees it as a commitment to meeting students where they are.

“Academics will come,” Curran said, “but we cannot truly teach (students) until they feel safe and cared for.”

It’s a philosophy the 51Ʒ��School of Education works to instill, and one Curran has seen bear out, moment by moment, in her own classroom, Gorrivan added.

“Early on, I saw that Shauna had natural instincts for what an effective teacher looks like in the classroom,” Gorrivan added. “She is always trying to learn more, to be a stronger and more effective teacher.”

Curran said her path to teaching wasn’t a straight line.

She arrived at 51Ʒ��as a nursing student, drawn to the University in part because it offered both nursing and education programs, giving her room to find her footing. While she filled her electives with education courses from the start, the decision finally crystallized an ocean away.

During the fall of her sophomore year, Curran was studying abroad at UNE’s campus in Tangier, Morocco.

“I thought about how much I had been missing my students,” she said, “and that’s when it really clicked. I wanted to be a teacher.”

Back on the Biddeford Campus, that conviction only grew.

“What matters most was knowing my students left the classroom feeling happy, safe, and valued,” she said.

After she graduates on May 16, Curran plans to combine her passion for global travel with her teaching expertise and move to Spain, where hopes to teach English, a next step she said feels like a natural extension of the skills 51Ʒ��helped her build.

And, although the first graders she is leaving behind will move on to second grade, Curran said she will carry them with her.

“They have allowed me to become the teacher I am today,” she said, “and for that, I will forever be grateful.”