About Us

Rebecca Frazier, PhD, has centered her professional career around learning and sharing how to become an effective coach in a variety of situations. When teachers feel encouragement and love as well as being supported by a technically skilled and competent coach, both the positive energy to persevere and the skills needed to meet difficult challenges are produced. Rebecca’s years as a classroom teacher, an instructional coach, trainer of instructional coaches, district facilitator for coaching program development, and a K-8 principal have provided her with a multi-tiered perspective of the coaching process. Rebecca believes a holistic coaching model is critical during this time of extreme challenge for educators. Her doctoral research resulted in the identification of 10 characteristics of effective instructional coaches which inspired changes to deliver coaching in a more holistic way that honored the hearts and minds of teachers. Her book, The Joy of Coaching: Characteristics of Effective Instructional Coaches explains this balanced way of coaching and how honoring our humanness can lead to joyful and successful coaching interactions. 

Coach Happy! Make coaching a professional development option teachers seek after and find ways to provide critical caring and competent support during these challenging times.

Nancy Shanklin is a National Board-Certified Teacher!  She is a coach!  She is a teacher coach!  She has taught in the classroom for 19 years and coached teachers for 9 years. She pursued coaching because teachers need constructive caring support individualized for them, and the education profession loses far too many great teachers due to the immense pressures. Nancy believes teachers need positive encouragement that supports their strengths as much as helps them be reflective of areas of improvement. She coaches because she wants to help teachers catapult themselves to higher levels.  She has found every teacher she works with wants to improve, but may not have a process to continually improve with all their daily demands.  She wants to not only help teachers prioritize what is most important to them, but also wants to show them that with all the stresses of today’s reality (in person teaching, remote teaching, hybrid teaching) they can still find a balance of JOY in their reality even though it sometimes seems like sheer madness!

She personally finds great JOY when - just like our students-, a lightbulb goes off, and a teaching practice becomes effective and efficient (and sustainably so) because coaching was meaningful, specific, and individualized for that teacher. “I get JOY from sitting side by side with teachers to help them prioritize their goals, break those goals into manageable action steps with timelines, and watch them bloom into the teachers they envision themselves to be.  One of the best parts of coaching is the reciprocal relationship that emerges. This enables me to learn as much from my teachers as I only hope they learn from my coaching.”

Kathryn (Kate) Shannon, MS. Ed. and Licensed Special Education Director is an educator with a history of positive results. Kate is skilled in special education professional development, competent and caring coaching, educational technology, special education compliance, and effective individualized instructional practice. She is a highly educated and dedicated professional who continues to learn and grow in the field of education. She has taught special education for future teachers at Colorado College and is regularly consulted by state and national organizations for her special education expertise. She coaches and consults on best instruction, and is committed to seeing special education teachers and students excel. Kate has never met a stranger. It is in her nature to capitalize on every opportunity to acknowledge and lift others leaving happiness and healing in her wake.

Kris Siebers is an elementary special education teacher in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Kris has served as a general educator and special education teacher for over 30 years at the elementary and middle school levels. Kris holds a Bachelor’s Degree and Master’s Degree in Elementary Education as well as a Master’s Degree in Special Education. Coaching teachers is one of her passions. Kris has supported primary through high school educators for the past five years as a part-time and full-time instructional coach. She is honored to share the journey with colleagues who wish to improve their practice. Kris believes that the coaching model embodied in Coach Happy leads to continual improvement and lasting change for educators and coaches alike. In her free time, Kris enjoys reading, hiking, and spending time with family and friends.

Chris Smith serves as a middle school science teacher in Colorado Springs and leads students on a fascinating journey of exploring the world around them. After growing up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Grove City College and a Master of Educational Leadership degree from Grand Canyon University. With a passion for the outdoors, Chris enjoys hiking, rock climbing, and skiing. In the Colorado Springs community, he has the privilege of working as a part-time instructional coach, mentoring student teachers, serving as a Gifted and Talented resource for teachers, and directing a local summer camp. Each day he shares a love of science through interactive lessons, innovative labs, and creative team work. For Chris, instructional coaching is truly about walking alongside fellow educators and empowering them to refine their craft through meaningful relationships and engaging lessons.