Shelly Reed Gillespie

I graduated from the University of Utah in 1974 with a B.A. in English and a secondary teaching certificate. My minor was in reading. I actually was a ballet major for one year until I came to my senses and switched majors. Switching majors delayed my graduation a couple of quarters. I was offered a scholarship to continue in a masters program, but decided to get out there and start teaching instead. I taught at West Jordan briefly and then Midvale. I went to Hillcrest for one year when they moved the 9th grade over to high school. By then I was married and expecting my first son. After his birth I stayed home for five years and in that time I had another son. When he was three I put them both in Montesorri and went back to work as a teacher at a brand new middle school right up the street from where we lived - Albion Middle. I stayed there for 13 years and then decided in 1997 to brave the waters and teach high school. I was hired at the brand new Jordan High School. I had never seen anything so spectacular in public school architecture before. A year later my 23 year marriage ended and I decided to pursue my masters degree. I got a Masters in Teaching and Learning from the University of Utah. I hadn't been on campus for 24 years, but headed on over after teaching school during the day and took night classes. Took almost three years to complete, but was worth it financially and personally. I taught all levels of English until I retired in December of 2011 with 33 years in the classroom. I'd experienced two complicated neck surgeries and felt it was time to enjoy the good life, as they say. Retirement has been a blessing, but thanks to my youngest son and daughter-in-law, my biggest blessing has been my two granddaughters born after I retired. I have been lucky enough to care for my first grand daughter two days a week since she was two months old. She is now almost five. So different from raising your own. It's true; grand kids keep you young. Going down slippery slides in your 60's and all that! She now has a new sister and luckily they live here in Utah with no plans to leave. My eldest son lives in Austin and teaches at the University of Texas there, and co-owns and teaches at a krav maga studio as well. We're a close family and he makes it "home" at least twice a year. I can honestly say my best times are cooking big meals and getting all my family together at once. My sons have turned out good cooks as well and now help me in the kitchen for holiday dinners. I have always loved being a homemaker, decorating, gardening and landscaping my different homes, and celebrating family. I moved to Sandy in 1970 and have lived here ever since. I never tire of looking at the Wasatch Front and thinking how beautiful the mountains are - they get in your blood! I am grateful my sons were raised here and also enjoyed all the wonders of this state as a family - camping, fishing, water skiing, sports, all that each season brought. It's not the same state we grew up in, but I am grateful for every year I've had here and every year left.

Your classmates are like extended family in some respects. We were all thrown together from the time we were five until young adults. We grew up and experienced that amazing time in the world and here at home collectively. Although some memories have faded or have disappeared completely until mentioned, much of it will stay with me forever and though not perfect, an invaluable part of my life's history. I do recall letting my twin sister switch classes once in awhile (she even did that for me teaching once!) and Mr. Jackson yelling, "Reed, shut up!" daily in chemistry. He taught us how to use a slide rule. Boy, that turned out useful! I loved the fashion sense of the 60's and wearing all the fun styles and hairdos as well as looking at them on our peers. Going to the proms and dances, dressing up and dinners - so special and unforgettable. I recall performing in a couple of dances along with dance company. For some reason I'll never understand, I annoyed the dance teacher so much she knocked the air out of me with a basketball in her gym class! We could hear the crowds cheer on the football team from our neighborhood as a child, and I couldn't wait to some day be old enough to go there. Granite was in our stomping grounds and we'd ride our bikes over there to swim in the summer and slide down the marble steps in front of the A building. I loved walking to school daily with our neighborhood friends and am sad to see so many have passed before their time. I also recall driving around in Elaine Davidson's Volkswagon and seeing Romeo and Juliet with her - was daring stuff for those times. Her Volkswagon was one of those that had a clutch you could use or not use. Fun to drive! I waitressed at JB's Big Boys and Clark's Cafeteria, and ushered at the then new Century 21. All were around Granite High. That landscape is forever changed and sadly the campus itself is now gone, but not the memories. Thanks Granitians!