Work Besties: Shelnutt and Whitehurst

Mrs. Ellen Shelnutt and Mrs. Lauren Whitehurst share what it's like to be besties in the workplace.
by Natonya Clinger

Out of the many English teachers here at WGHS, Mrs. Eleanor Shelnutt and Mrs. Lauren Whitehurst are best friends with  a well known friendship. In fact it all started here at WGHS when Mrs. Whitehurst first walked into the building...

SHELNUTT: I walked [into Whitehurst's job interview] with Mr. Ulrey to drop off yearbooks… I teased Ulrey about how [Whitehurst was] going to be the one that was going to be replacing him.

WHITEHURST: They were pretending to drop off yearbooks just to see me.

SHELNUTT: I didn't know they were interviewing. He might have known but I didn't.”

WHITEHURST: I still think they were pretending to drop off yearbooks…So yeah we met when she and Mr. Ulrey were (air quotes) dropping off yearbooks. 

Mrs. Shelnutt and Mrs. Whitehurst spend a lot of time together because, coincidentally, their rooms are right next to each other.

SHELNUTT: So we start everyday together and talk for like an hour, and then we have lunch together, and we spend every afternoon together.

WHITEHURST: We keep asking Mr. McDonald to install a window between our walls that will slide open so we can talk. It makes the day go by faster, when we are having a good day… After, we can talk about it and if we are having bad days, we can lean on each other… When one of us is out, we text each other that work sucks without you.

They have a lot of things in  common like...

SHELNUTT/WHITEHURST: (in stereo surround sound) TAYLOR SWIFT! Oh, but also teaching. We are both super organized. We  both love people... we are basically the same person just packaged differently.

SHELNUTT: (on how she would introduce Whitehurst to a stranger) I would say Mrs Whitehurst is sunshine wrapped up like Wednesday Addams, and that she is so weird that it's … it's like a loveable weirdo.

WHITEHURST: (on how she would introduce Whitehurst to a stranger) And I would say Mrs. Shelnutt is like a sour patch kid… I'm just kidding she is like a reverse sour patch kid. She is really sweet, but she is also like "if-you-don't-do-what-I-asked-you-to-I-will-ruin-your-life!" And she will smile at you the whole time, then you get home later and think: did she just threaten my life? But Mrs. Shelnutt is really organized and fiercely loyal and she is a good mom and a good best friend.

Friends are an important part of everyone's life, they are someone you can hangout with, you can lean on when you're feeling down or excited and just need to talk to someone. Work might not be the most exciting thing in the world, but when you have friends there, it makes it better.  ​