Meet Vickie D. Shell
My name is Vickie Shell and I am marketing teacher at Clarke Central High School in Athens, Georgia. I have been teaching for 10 years in this position. I am married to Vincent “Rick” Shell and we have two great kids, Vincent “Rock” Shell, Jr. (14) and Victor “Beau” Shell (7). I was born and raised in Albany, GA, but I have lived in Athens since 1990.

My Background
My first love and strongest passion has always been working with children. As a teenager and as a young woman in my collegiate years, I have always held jobs that worked directly with small children. In my early 20s founded a non-profit, 501(c) 3 organization whose main purpose was to work with young African-American males. My other passion and love has been and will always be sports. Throughout my life I have found ways combine my love of children and sports. My academic experience reflects these two passions as well. I received my A.B.J in Journalism with a specialization in Public Relations from the Grady College of Journalism at The University of Georgia in 1989. I chose Public Relations as my undergraduate degree because I wanted to strengthen my skills as influencing public opinion and policy. I wanted to be able to work for the community affairs or public affairs department of a government agency such as a school or local recreation department. During my senior year of college I completed an internship with the Clarke County School District’s public relations department. It was during this internship that I realized I would eventually end up in the classroom and not the board office. My fondest memories of this internship consist of those times when our office interacted with the students.
After leaving graduate school I worked for three years setting up and organizing XABAR Youth Athletic Association, the non-profit agency mentioned above. During these three years, I organized summer programs and after school tutoring program in local neighborhood recreation centers. These programs were able to serve a small number of children but I soon discovered that I needed more financial backing and support to be able to effectively serve more children. I began to seek employment in places that would allow me to gain valuable experience and knowledge of fundraising and grant writing. I chose the Orlando Magic professional basketball team. My research of the organization revealed that this team had a very strong non-profit agency, the Orlando Magic Foundation. I also learned that the Magic had an outstanding community relations department that was very involved with organizing, implementing and managing programs for youth in community. During my year-long internship with the Orlando Magic, I worked with several programs including the ticket outreach program, the Stay-In-School program, and Youth Magic Basketball program. I also worked very closely with Orlando Magic Foundation. My work with the foundation gave me the skills I needed to organize and plan small and large fundraisers and the knowledge to write for several federal and private grants. I even learned how to plan and organized galas, silent auctions, basketball tournaments, local contests, and celebrity appearances. In all of these events and activities, I had the opportunity to interact directly with many children and community members. When the internship ended in June of 1995, I took a job in the community relations department of the Atlanta Committee of the Olympic Games. I worked in this department for six months before moving into the Basketball Competition. I was briefly reunited with some of my colleagues from the National Basketball Association and the Orlando Magic. It was also during this time that I re-entered graduate school at Georgia State seeking a degree in Sports Administration with a concentration in sports marketing.
My work with the Magic and the Olympic Games as well as required community service work for Georgia State made me realize strengthened my desire to work with children and those less fortunate in the community. I received my Masters of Science in Sports administration in 2000 and one year later, I started teaching at Clarke Central High School as the Marketing teacher. I took all of my teacher certification courses at the University of Georgia and later started my graduate work seeking a Specialist Degree in Marketing Education from the University of Georgia. After the Olympic Games, I worked briefly for the community relations department of the Atlanta Glory, one of the first teams of an upstart women’s professional basketball team. I returned to Athens in 1997, married and gave birth to my first child. After a year of caring for my son and myself I returned to work as a part-time commissioned sales person at Roberd’s Furniture Store and Sears Department store. During this time I commuted back and forth to Georgia State University until I complete the coursework and comprehensive exams. I earned my Masters of Science Degree in August of 2000. I began working for Clarke Central High School in September of 2000 and I have been here ever since.

Academic Background
1. A.B.J with a minor in Public Relations from the College of Journalism at the University of Georgia
2. M.S. in Sports Administration with a concentration in Sports Marketing from Georgia State University
3. Received my teaching certification in Marketing Education from the University of Georgia
4. Currently pursuing my Doctor of Education with a specialization in Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment from Walden University

Certifications
1. T-5 Certification in Marketing Education
2. Industry Certified teacher in Marketing Education