Wait, Oakland Mills has a FACS class, since when?

Since, now! The Family and Consumer Science (FACS) doors have finally reopened, and after not having the class for many years, this is some big news for Oakland Mills. What’s even better is that we get to add a new member to the community, Mrs. Shawanda Evans, whose passion for FACS goes way beyond just cooking. 

Born and raised in Queens, NY, where she attended her primary years of school, she found her love for teaching very early on, “I liked to cook ever since I was young and going around ‘teaching’ the kids in my neighborhood, so I always kind of knew I would be in education.” However, she wanted to see more than her home state of New York, so she decided to come to Maryland to attend Morgan State University. 

After a few years, she moved on to Towson University to receive her Master’s Degree in human resources. Not long after, she became a teacher, shared her knowledge throughout our education system, and helped us understand the importance of Family and Consumer Science.

“It’s more than just cooking,” explained Mrs. Evans, “Family and Consumer Science, previously known as Home Economics, provides courses such as Food and Nutrition Technology, which is what I am currently teaching now. And, with food and technology, we focus on a lot of healthy recipes, proper cooking, kitchen safety and sanitation, food awareness, cooking methods, and more. Honestly,  I would like to build a program to provide students here, at Oakland Mills, with the other courses.”

Mrs. Evans does not spend all her time at the Mill but has a very unique position where she splits her time between two different schools. When she is not here, she is at Homewood Center—doing all she can for the students there. “They’re both two different schools because Homewood is an alternative school so students are there for different reasons… it can be challenging because I have to ensure I have enough work for both schools. I’m very new to it and I’m just trying to get adjusted and make sure everything is covered, but so far it has been going well.” She is doing what she loves, double the cooking brings double the happiness.

When she is not throwing it down in the kitchen or teaching at two different schools, she can be found spending time with her family or being active in other activities such as art, cosmology, writing poetry, traveling, and taking a chance to explore nature. However, none of these things defeat her one true love: “There are many things I would like or have tried, but I know I want to retire with this, with cooking.”