Former special education teacher turns to art after leaving classroom

Rise in school shootings led Shakia Harris to leave the classroom and pursue art

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) — For Shakia Harris, painting is more than just a form of expression.

It’s an escape. An outlet.

Every time the oil touches the canvas, each stroke of the brush is a release from deeply-rooted trauma.

“I had to really take a second to refill my cup because it was empty,” Harris explains. “The only way to do that was to step away from the classroom at that time.”

Shortly after the massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas that claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers, Harris left her job as a special education teacher at James Lane Allen Elementary School in Lexington. She joins a growing number of educators across the United States who have left their jobs since the pandemic. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, more than half a million teachers have left the classroom since the beginning of 2020 — many of them citing a heavy workload or low pay.

But as for Harris, it ran much deeper than that.

“I couldn’t go into work. I had to call in it. It was that bad,” says Harris, fighting back tears. “I had to miss the last day because I knew that if I went in, the moment I got to school, I would see those visuals from Uvalde in the hallways and in the classroom.”

The rise in school shootings across the nation had taken its toll on Harris. Aside from the constant stress and anxiety of constantly fearing for the safety of her students, it also triggered trauma from an incident that occurred back in 2018.

Harris and her then-boyfriend, Mitch — now her husband — were held at gunpoint on the couch in her apartment.

“One of the men would stay on me with the gun,” recalls Harris. “He’d keep it in my face while the other two men were going through my apartment at the time, just tearing it apart.”

Harris recalls the men growing increasingly frustrated as they ransacked her apartment.

“Oh, I knew in that moment [we were going to die.] I was like, well, it’s going to happen any second now, so I’m just going to turn and look at Mitch one last time I knew it.”

The three individuals would eventually leave two unharmed, but the incident would leave a  last impact. After eventually making the decision to walk away from the classroom, Harris turned to painting.

“There are times where I will come down here and paint, and afterwards I feel something similar to a runner’s high. I feel like I just worked out,” says Harris.

Completely self-taught, Harris is now an entrepreneur, selling her work to clients all across the country, performing at wedding venues and teaching classes online. The mother of two hopes to provide a safe space for anyone who is struggling, providing healing energy through art.

“It’s really, really awesome to turn some of the darkest and ugliest times in my life into something that’s a celebration or something that’s beautiful and for that message to resonate with someone else,” says Harris.

A constant reminder that sometimes even the most difficult decision is the oftentimes the best one.

“The beauty of life and having ownership over your path and your future is like you can pivot at any time,” says Harris. “You are never too stuck in a situation to make a change”