By Caleb Youngblood, Public Relations Coordinator
October 14, 2026
My career has taken me down a winding road, with lots of different jobs along the way while I was raising my family. I have worked with young children, from birth through age 5, and spent much of my time raising my family in Petal, Mississippi. Petal is an Excel by 5 community, which means there is a strong emphasis on providing books, toys, and services to children from birth through age 3. My own children benefited tremendously from those opportunities, and they eventually opened the door for me to start my own in-home childcare business serving children ages 0–3.
I was working as a substitute teacher when my youngest child was born. When she was 15 months old, another work-from-home opportunity came along, and I continued my childcare business until May 2020. Just one week later, our family moved to Caledonia, where we still live today.
I joined MSMS in July 2025, and I fell in love with the place almost immediately. Then the students arrived, and they all assaulted my heart and jumped right in there without ever asking permission. I quickly fell in love with being one of their school moms. I feel incredibly blessed to be part of the MSMS family!
All of my family roots run deep through Brookhaven. I was born in McComb and lived in Brookhaven until I was 4, when my parents bought a house in Wesson. I went to preschool there and made friendships that I still have today. I was a Wesson Cobra until December of sixth grade, when we moved to Petal and I became a Petal Panther. I lived there for nearly 35 years, which is crazy to think about because I’m only about 37, maybe 38. [DISCLAIMER: I am currently not taking questions or comments regarding the math. Thank you.]
I attended Jones County Junior College before earning my bachelor’s degree in Journalism from The University of Southern Mississippi, with an emphasis in Radio, Television and Film and a minor in English. In January 2024, I enrolled at Mississippi State University to pursue my master’s degree and teaching license in English. I have two tests left to finish, and I’m on the Lord’s timetable, so if you want to know when I’ll be done, you’ll have to consult with Him!
At MSMS, my job is awesome. I get to keep up with more than 200 students five days a week, along with a whole host of other tasks. I hope the work I do helps make MSMS better, makes the jobs of our Academic Affairs team easier, and ultimately makes a positive difference in the life of a high school student. I love being able to play a small part in the daily lives of our students.
Family is everything. I am the oldest of 5, four girls and one boy. Three of us live in Lowndes County and the other two live in South Louisiana. One fun fact is that we experienced our own little baby boom when all 5 of us birthed a new baby in less than two years! And it happened in our birth order, which is pretty cool. All of those babies are 12 and 11 now, and we are all rethinking some of our life decisions!
I love to write, paint, and rock babies. Another fun fact about me is that all children love me. I have never met a child that I couldn’t make smile, including in the grocery store. I do many things left-handed even though I am right-handed.
I have three children and three grandchildren, one boy and two girls for both generations. It was my childhood dream to be a Mama and God has richly blessed me. My grands call me Shannie, a nickname given to me by my Papaw. Merrit is 5, Carter is 4 and my sweet baby boy, Camp, just turned 1.