Long after the sun goes down, Amy Shaw walks out of Cracker Barrel with her family. The restaurant closed before they finished their meal.
Each was tired after a long day. Amy’s had started early in the morning, when she left the family’s home for her fifth-grade classroom at Camargo Elementary School.
“I embrace all that I can while I can,” Amy says. Along with her day job, she pastors Heritage Christian Church with her husband, Chris; coaches the J.B. McNabb Middle School cheer team and is mother to three children.
Amy lives by her calendar, with each part of the day meticulously planned. Sometimes, she has to pick and choose between demands, something she doesn’t find easy.
“I try to go to everything my kids have,” she says. “I want to be there. Sometimes I have other things that I need to do, but I make sure that I at least go to every game or competition. I know that they want me there.”
Chris says Amy is competitive, driven to be the best at everything she does. “I think it’s the way she was raised,” he says. “She strives for excellence. She knows that someone has to be the best at something, so she wants to be the best at everything she does.”
Still, Amy finds time to care for those around her: Her students, members of her church and cheer team and especially her family.
“I call her Wonder Woman,” says Harley Catron, one of Amy’s close friends. “All she does, all the people she cares for, it’s amazing.”
Amy helped raise Harley, who is now one of the few female Kentucky State Troopers. Harley lives in a cabin on the Shaw family farm, and when she is not on duty she helps Amy with her children.
In class, students flock to Amy, bringing her notes of affection and hugs. Students seem drawn to her magnetic personality. “Kid’s that come from nothing steal my heart,” she says. “I’m not sure why, but they seem to come to me. They just need someone to love them.”
“It all comes from a love of God, her family and her community,” Chris says.