Caroline Sheaffer has been preparing to be an educator nearly her whole life.

Some of it was done subconsciously, like skipping recess to hang out with her teachers.

Other times, Sheaffer found herself working with children at church and giving piano lessons.

Now that she is a high school graduate, Sheaffer can turn her attention to getting her degree in Elementary Education.

The daughter of Steve and Jill Sheaffer is the salutatorian for Waldron High School’s Class of 2021. The school held its commencement ceremony Saturday morning.

Sheaffer admits she chose her career while still in kindergarten. She flirted with other career choices as she grew older but kept coming back to teaching young children.

“I have always liked little kids and being around them,” she said. “I really like helping them. Since about fifth grade I have always helped at church a lot. I have done cadet teaching at the elementary school the last couple of years and I love enjoying the feeling I get when you see them learn something.”

Sheaffer will attend Indiana University Purdue University Columbus (IUPUC) which affords her the opportunity to stay at home, continue her work at church and offering piano lessons.

“I looked at other colleges and it offered basically the same thing,” she said. “The one thing it didn’t offer was playing tennis but I didn’t think where I was looking at, if I continued playing tennis, I wouldn’t be able to continue doing other things like giving piano lessons and being as involved in the church as I am.

“So it was convenience (choosing IUPUC) and definitely cost.”

Sheaffer played varsity tennis for four seasons at Waldron, was a member of Student Council, Sunshine Society, Academic Team and the East Street Singers, and she served as vice-president for National Honor Society.

Coming from a small-town school where class sizes are low, Sheaffer found a similar environment at IUPUC, where classes average 15 students.

Still two months out from starting college, Sheaffer believes all her freshman classes will be in buildings on campus and not done virtually.

“I did not care for virtual (learning) at all,” she admitted.

With the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down schools in March of 2020, Sheaffer’s junior year became more stressful.

“It was not fun. It was pretty hard to learn online,” she recalled. “I took AP Literature and that was not a fun class to take over Zoom calls or videos from your teacher.

“I did enjoy getting to sleep in though.”

Sheaffer maintained a rigid routine over the final two months of the 2020 school year then returned to school and found a different kind of stress that goes with being a senior.

“There was a lot of stuff to do,” she said. “There were a lot of scholarship deadlines to hit. I had to write a graduation speech. I decided to do Yearbook Club this year.”

Sheaffer has worked with fourth- and fifth-graders and is anxious for an opportunity to move into lower grades to get that educational experience.

Then, she can decide just what grade she wants to teach.

“My mom said I could always look and see what other things are out there,” said Sheaffer. “So I looked and everything I came to had something to do with people or helping children. I always came back to wanting to be a teacher and being able to help.

“I think teaching is what I am called to do.”