A great teacher can change a student’s life. However, there are also times when the most powerful testament to an educator’s impact comes from an unexpected place: a fellow teacher.
When a new teacher reflects on their first year of teaching, they likely do not just remember the students they encountered – they will always think back to the veteran teachers who held their hand during that first year. Those mentors make all the difference in building strong educators.
Cane Bay High visual art teacher Shannon Hopkins has more than 25 years of experience in the classroom, and she remains committed to sharing her teaching wisdom to new teachers at her school.
That ongoing commitment has landed her with a very special recognition; she is the 2026 recipient of the Dr. Deborah Smith Hoffman Mentor Award.
“I have been a mentor for a long time – and I think it is important work to keep good teachers in the field and not give up, especially that first hard year, and for them to know their worth, and that there is nobody else that can do what they do better than them,” Hopkins said.
The award is given annually through the South Carolina Art Educators Association. The award honors the legacy of the late Dr. Deborah Smith Hoffman, a lifelong enthusiast and advocate for visual and performing arts. This award recognizes an outstanding teacher mentor who connects the wisdom of the past with the new and creative ideas of the future. Hopkins will receive the honor at the SCAEA Fall Conference in Greenville on Nov. 21.
Hopkins was nominated for the award through recommendations previously submitted by two educators that she used to mentor: Cassandra Cowdrey, BCSD’s Visual and Performing Arts Coordinator, and Katherine Thomas, who now teaches art at Philip Simmons High.
In her recommendation letter, Cowdrey applauded Hopkins’s efforts to go above and beyond – not just for students, but for teachers – and she makes a positive difference at Cane Bay High.
“’Shannon doesn't just teach art; she lives it, advocates for it, and inspires others to believe in its power,’” Cowdrey wrote.
Reading the letter was emotional to Hopkins.
“It made me cry,” she said. “The words in her letter were so kind.”
Hopkins started her teaching career at Drayton Hall Middle (now an elementary school) in Charleston County. She found a mentor in the late Teresa Van Oordt, a dedicated art teacher who took Hopkins under wing during the latter’s first year as a teacher.
“I am forever grateful for having such an influential mentor,” Hopkins said.
When Hopkins later joined the arts magnet school C.E. Williams in Charleston, she learned the school wanted to expand the art program and hire another teacher, and she knew immediately that she wanted to be that teacher’s mentor. She pushed herself to get her mentor and evaluator certification through the State Department of Education.
Hopkins said the knowledge she attained through the certification process helps her work with new teachers to point out what their strengths, as well as areas where they need to build.
“It’s very helpful because then I can see what administrators are looking for when they evaluate teachers, and help guide the new teachers from a less stressful perspective,” she said.
When she joined Cane Bay High nine years ago, Hopkins renewed her certification and has since mentored several teachers, both officially and unofficially, since her time at the school.
“I love being in Berkeley County,” Hopkins said, adding, “There’s worth and value in being happy where you work.”
A self-proclaimed sharer, Hopkins is a big believer in helping teachers by providing all the resources she has to help teachers find success when they join Cane Bay High – everything from presentations to lesson plans.
“I feel like being a mentor is seeing the big picture and being someone non-threatening to talk to,” Hopkins said. “When I observe my teachers, I take my notes, but I just have fun watching them and seeing how the students light up when they’re teaching them.”
Hopkins studied studio art and biology at the College of Charleston. She is Nation Board certified in studio art for upper level classes. She is also AP art and design certified; she is the only AP art teacher in the district who also works for College Board; she got promoted to table leader last year and now helps other AP art teachers understand how to read the rubric and score students without bias, which Hopkins considers to be another aspect of mentoring that she gets to do.
Hopkins said she excited to go to the SCAEA Fall Conference to receive her award, and that she is very “surprised, happy and grateful” to be recognized for the work she does in supporting new teachers.
“We all have our gifts, and being a mentor, I get to highlight that,” she said. “I hope the new teachers gain confidence because I see their strengths.”