Shannon (Kelley) Lesko
June 23, 2020
Shannon (Kelley) Lesko (2020)
Shannon (Kelley) Lesko is a high school English teacher in the Parkway School District. She lives in South City, St. Louis with her husband Matt, their one-year-old son, Luca, and their dog Kona. Believe it or not, she can still be found paling around with all of her same Truman friends.
What year did you graduate and what was your concentration?
I graduated in May 2011 with a concentration in public communication. I also double-majored in English with a concentration in British literature.
What extra-/co-curricular activities did you do?
I was president of Delta Zeta, a member of our Greek Community Relations Board, a Greek Life intern, an intern in the Admission Office, and a building supervisor at the Rec Center.
Did you go to grad school? If so, where? Was it immediately after you left Truman or did you wait? Why?
I attended grad school at Truman in the MAE program (Master of Arts in Education) immediately following graduation, as it was my goal to become a high school English teacher, something I couldn’t do without that graduate degree.
Shannon with her husband Matt and son Luca (2019).
What was your first job after graduation?
I got a job immediately after my student teaching, teaching 9-12 English in the Fort Zumwalt School District.
What work do you do/What are you doing now?
I worked in Fort Zumwalt for 6 years before getting a job in the Parkway School District, where I’ve been for 2 years, still teaching high school English.
Shannon the Greek Week Queen (2011).
How has your Liberal Arts/COMM education helped you?
I am a huge proponent of a liberal arts education as I think it’s made me a more well-rounded person, citizen, and teacher. I love incorporating various other disciplines into my English classes to appeal to different types of students. Communication specifically has helped me think about audience – how easy it is to be misunderstood if your words or tone isn’t correct: how the intent of your words matter, but how there’s much more to it than that, how difficult it is to take back a statement, how our media uses languages to manipulate particular audiences. I try to pass these ideas along to my students as well.
Which class did you dislike at the time you took it, but now you’re grateful you took it?
I went into Truman thinking I would be a journalist. Upon taking radio broadcast and talking a lot with my advisors (James Cianciola and Marilyn Yaquinto), I realized that journalism isn’t where I was meant to be. However, it gave me a great deal of respect for all of the journalists out in our world!
What was your greatest accomplishment at Truman?
Being recognized as a “Who’s Who Among American Colleges and Universities.”
Why is Truman a good place for a student to study?
Truman is my home away from home and where I truly found myself. The combination of a small campus, a small town, a liberal arts education, and a multitude of extracurricular opportunities is why I chose it, but why I love it was how many leadership opportunities were afforded to me. I think in 4 years I was able to branch out into many different areas on campus, forming relationships with diverse groups of students, faculty, and staff, and making a large impact in the organizations I became part of.
Shannon (3rd fr left) hanging out on campus with friends during Homecoming (2012).
What would you say a COMM student should absolutely do while at Truman?
Take a class with James Cianciola! He changed my outlook on so many things about pop culture and media.
Shannon and Matt enoying their vacation (2017).
What advice would you give someone who wants to go into the same line of work as you?
Be ready to work harder than you’ve ever worked before, become more humble than you’ve ever been, and always assume the best of every student that comes your way.
What do you miss most about campus/Kirksville?
Walking through campus and never feeling alone because I was surrounded by so many incredible people.
If you could come back to Truman and teach a class for a semester, what would be its title and what would it be about?
I would love to teach a class about communication with students. As a teacher, your words, body language, speech, tone, etc. make a big difference in which students you are able to connect with.
What did we not ask that you think is important for people to know?
Many people thought that COMM was an “easy out” for a major, and I heard a lot of jokes about it over my time at Truman, but so many of those same people say that communication is one of the most difficult parts of their career.
Shannon (front row, 2nd fr left) and her ΔΖ sisters at graduation (2011).
If you would like to learn more of Shannon’s story, you can follow her on Instagram, or Twitter.