Maci Shearer has put softball on the back burner. Right now she's got to learn how to weld and raise a pig.
This past Friday, Shearer got the phone call she was anxiously awaiting. It was Southland School District Superintendent, Thomas Gotsch, offering her a job as the new vocational agriculture teacher and softball coach. She accepted, and will set up her classroom today even though she doesn't officially start until next week.
"I was nervous and terrified that I wasn't going to get the job. When he told me, it was like the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders," Shearer said. "Then about 5 minutes later I was like, 'Oh my gosh. I have to teach Ag now.'"
Shearer was on a family vacation when she got the exciting news, and waited to post it on social media until she arrived back in town Monday and could sign the paperwork.
"I wanted to make sure 100 percent that they weren't like, "Hey, just kidding," Shearer said.
But of course she had to tell her family right away. Shearer swore them to secrecy. The only problem? There are almost two dozen of them.
"I don't think they kept the secret very well because I got a few "congratulations" text messages before (it was official), but that's OK," Shearer said. "The classrooms are very small. This job is very large. And right now it is a little bit crazy."
Before Friday, Shearer was dangerously close to having to get a job related to her degree.
After graduating from Twin Rivers High School, Shearer earned an associate's degree from Three Rivers College and then a bachelor's degree in health studies from Arkansas State University. She was working as a cheerleading coach at Jonesboro Gymnastics Academy in Arkansas when Southland Curriculum Director Misty Galloway called about the job opening.
Galloway, who taught Shearer in Sunday School growing up, heard she was looking for a job and thought she would be a good fit as the new Ag teacher.
Shearer grew up on a farm in Qulin, so agriculture was definitely a passion. She made a phone call, applied online and went in for the interview.
"I loved the school. I fell in love pretty quick. Now I get to be there," Shearer said. "I liked how small it was. The graduating class is about 20, so you get a lot of one on one interaction with the kids, which I love coming from a small school at Twin Rivers."
At one point during the interview, Shearer mentioned softball was her passion and that she was pumped up about it.
"You realize you have Ag, too?" Southland Principal Johnny McMinn said, reeling in the often light-hearted Shearer.
"I do, but softball man!" said Shearer, already imagining blood feuds against her relatives that coach softball at rival schools.
McMinn reminded the 23-year-old that teaching was ultimately No. 1, to which the now reeled in Shearer responded "Yes, sir."
Shearer takes over the Ag program from Dean Lackey, who taught at Southland for 26 years before accepting a similar position with Poplar Bluff. Shearer is to take over his schedule, as well as his curriculum, which presents some challenges.
"I have to learn how to weld!" Shearer said.
Her farming experience is with row crops. She was never in FFA.
Now she has to teach a classroom how to raise a pig. "The only animal I've ever raised was a dog," she noted.
"I'm excited about it. I've always been into being outdoors," Shearer said. "I love animals, I've just never had to raise a pig. But I do look forward to it. It is going to be a lot of fun."
She also has had friends offer to help teach her to weld and, in time, she would like to get a plot of land and implement crops into the lesson plan.
"Mr. Lackey did an awesome job running the program, keeping everything in its place and I am going to have to go in and find everything he has got in (the classroom)," Shearer said. "I am going to back in (today), take pictures of my classroom, see what all I can do. I am going to try to get a little bit of a farmhouse theme, but still keep it light and fresh."
But softball, man!
A third basemen on the 2012 Twin Rivers team, Shearer and the Lady Royals won a district championship. Brooke Madison and Alexa Stockton were the pitcher and catcher.
Now Madison is teaching and coaching at Malden and Stockton is at Holcomb. Fellow Twin Rivers alumna Kelsey Snider is also at Malden. Shearer hopes to play both schools.
"It is going to get crazy for sure. I look forward to it. I am still related to them, so at the end of the day I have to love them and they have to love me," said Shearer, who also won two district titles in basketball. "But not during. We are not friends and we are not related during the game."
Southland is coming off a 10-4 season with three of its four losses against Holcomb, including a 7-3 defeat in the district semifinal.
While Shearer said she has some talent coming back, small rosters are often an obstacle at small schools.
"I'm going to try to just see what I have before I make any plans," Shearer said. "I am just going to have to try to work with each talent that each girl has."