If you're here because you're a teacher who is drowning, burning out, or quietly wondering if you made a huge mistake choosing this profession, you are in exactly the right place.
I've been there too, and I stayed anyway.
My name is Erin Sponaugle. I'm an art teacher, a children's book author and illustrator, a TEDx speaker, a podcast host, and the author of the bestselling book Teachaholic. I have been teaching for 23 years, and I still show up in classrooms full of third, fourth, and fifth graders every day. I say that not to brag, but because I want you to know that everything I share with you comes from someone who is still in it, still living it, and still choosing it.
That hasn't always been easy.
I have fought anxiety and panic attacks my entire career. There were seasons of my teaching life that were genuinely dark, when I was barely holding on, doing everything right on the outside while quietly falling apart on the inside. I was named the 2014 West Virginia Teacher of the Year during one of the most complicated periods of my life, and what that experience gave me wasn't just a title. It gave me a new lens on teaching and a burning sense of purpose that has shaped everything I've done since.
That purpose has a name: I believe that the teacher shortage crisis in this country is, at its root, a burnout crisis, and that the answer isn't more mandates or more professional development checklists. The answer is helping teachers remember who they are, why they chose this, and what they are actually capable of. That's what Teachaholic is about. That's what my TEDx talk is about. That's what every podcast episode, every keynote, and every resource I create is about.
I also believe, deeply, that creativity isn't a "nice to have" in a classroom; it's a lifeline. As an art teacher and illustrator, I have seen firsthand how bringing art, creativity, and genuine play into learning changes the energy of a room, the confidence of a student, and the wellbeing of the teacher standing at the front of it. What began as a "maybe I can" project turned into The Adventures of Berkeley the Bear and the first publication from my publishing company, Next Chapter Press, which develops children's books and teacher resources for upper elementary teachers. Creative classrooms are a mental health strategy for improving the present and turning the page to the future of education.
So here's what I do:
I speak to educators and school communities about burnout, mental health, creative teaching, and reclaiming their identity beyond a job title. I create resources for teachers. I write books for teachers and for kids. I host a podcast. And I still teach full time, because the classroom is where everything I share actually lives.
If you're an administrator looking for a speaker who will tell your teachers the truth with compassion and a whole lot of real lived experience, I'm glad you found me. If you're a teacher who just needs someone who actually gets it, I'm glad you found me, too.
Let's get to it.