When students start thinking about their futures, they’re told to find what makes them happy and make a career out of it.

Luckily for Chanda Scobee, a new teacher here at GRC, this is happened not only once but twice.

Ms. Scobee was hired as a Creative Writing teacher, but she is not just a teacher; she also has an Etsy shop where she sells her own handmade items.

“I was lucky enough to be hired as a Creative Writing teacher here at GRC, which is my dream job,” said Ms. Scobee. “In fact, this was something I didn’t expect to happen until years down the road, if it happened at all, so to start my teaching career already in Creative Writing is still a bit of a dream to me.”

Ms. Scobee sells a multitude of pieces including healing stone jewelry, diffuser jewelry for essential oils, painted wood pieces, her own poetry books, and word bracelets.

“I started painting and making jewelry when I was in high school, but it was for fundraisers and donation-type things,” said Ms. Scobee. “In 2016, I wrote my first poetry book and wanted an easy way of being able to sell and ship that, so I decided to open up an Etsy shop. I’ve had it open ever since.”

Not only does Ms. Scobee use this shop to promote her own items but she also uses it as an avenue to bring awareness for mental health. The bracelets she makes have encouraging messages on them to help those who are struggling and to also help spread awareness.

“I want my students to discover more about themselves through journaling and writing, and I hope that they learn regardless of who they are, what they’re good at, what they want to accomplish and become in the future, that they are unique expressive human beings,” said Ms. Scobee. “I hope my classes give them the confidence to grow from that foundation.”