Shawnita is a 2020-2021 Illinois Teaching Policy Fellow. Shawnita teaches orchestra at Naperville District 203 school district. She also serves on the district’s Diversity and Inclusion committee, Deep Equity Team, Standard Based Grading Committee, and Performance Music Articulation Committee. She launched a chapter of the “SUCCESS” program at her school 2017 which is a club geared toward serving African-American and underrepresented minority students in her district. In 2018, her Symphonic Orchestra was chosen to perform at the Illinois Music Educators Association conference. In 2019 she was nominated for the Rebecca Andoh Smith award for her involvement with Diversity and Inclusion within her school community. Shawnita also serves as a two-time mentor for first year teachers in the district. Shawnita earned her Bachelor’s in music performance degree from the University of Illinois and Master’s of Music Performance degree from DePaul University. She currently is a candidate for National Board Teaching Certification.
