After 14 years, Ms. Shirleen Luttrell has finally decided teaching is her calling. If you had asked her while in college at Atlantic Union College she would have replied with an emphatic no. She was happy tutoring math in college but planned on doing other things with it after graduating in 1995. After being rejected by the CIA but still wanting to do something daring with her life, she burned those CIA bridges and became a missionary to Russia.
After two years of adventures in Russia, rising up the hierarchy of administration (easy to do when the school had only two teachers) and doing the unexpected job of teaching, Ms. Luttrell came back to the United States. She was all gung-ho about teaching math and Bible so went to Broadview Academy, Illinois to be a math teacher and assistant girls' dean. Working days as a teacher and nights as dean was too much and she gladly came to Andrews University in 1998. Shirleen finished her masters in 2002 and obtained her professional certification in mathematics and chemistry in 2005.
The Math and Science Center soon came to depend on her and then realized the cost-savings of hiring her as faculty rather than hourly. This will be her eighth year at this job. Her position with the Center is only half time this year which means she will only be teaching AP Calculus AB and assisting in the other Center classes. For the rest of her keep she will be teaching two remedial college math classes.
Ms. Luttrell became a home owner fall 2002 and thus keeps busy with gardening, yard work, other home related projects, as well as church work. Any time which remains she hopes to devote to painting and other crafts.