mirise-shannon

Known as the teacher who calls her students “kittens”, Mrs. Shannon Mirise Kirkbashian has been teaching since 1997 and has been at El Rancho since being hired for the 1998-1999 school year.  She was born in Augusta, Georgia and spent most of her childhood in Fresno, CA.  She first moved to Orange County to attend UC Irvine, where she majored in Social Science and minored in Psychology.  After graduating cum laude she worked with disabled adults for nearly 2 year before going into teaching.  She then moved up to Los Angeles and attended UCLA for 2 years where she earned her credential the first year and her master’s the second.  While taking classes for her master’s degree she completed her first year of teaching in a middle school in the Crenshaw District.  After completing her first year of teaching and her masters in 1998, she was then hired at El Rancho.  Mrs. Kirkbashian has had a very rewarding career working with her “kittens”.  She takes pride in trying to convince all of her students that history can be fun and exciting.  She hopes that by the end of every year, each and every one of her students understand and appreciate the significance of culture, government and world events his or her life.