Salem Elementary School

Darlene Germano

I'm student teaching Kindergarten in Mrs. Germano's class this semester. She's an awesome teacher for so many reasons. Mrs. Germano is very strong-willed, caring, kind-hearted, and just an all-around great teacher! :) I have learned so much from being in her classroom. She has helped me become a better future teacher. She's been through a lot this year. One student was hit by a car and another student was diagnosed with cancer - both are doing very well! Through all of this, Mrs. Germano has showed me how you have to be a tough person and stay positive so other students will not be affected. I can't express how awesome Mrs. Germano is and I'll definitely miss her when I finish up my student teaching on May 8!

Lisa Shankle

My daughter is in Mrs. Shankle's 3rd grade class. My daughter recently experienced her first "death" in that we had to euthanize our 14 year old cat Mimi. I don't believe my daughter would've made it through this traumatic experience without the superb support and love of her teacher Mrs. Shankle. It was unbelievable how she supported my daughter in this. She talked with her one on one about how she herself had gone through this with pets before, how it is so hard to do but often the best thing to do for the pets that we love. She gave my daughter her home and cell number to call any day and time if she was upset and wanted to talk. She asked my daughter if she could tell the class about it, and then the class all talked about their experiences with pet loss. Mrs. Shankle told the class that they all should try and do something nice for my daughter sometime during the week, to cheer her. Someone bought a card, another bought her an ice cream during lunch, another made her a memory box. All of this support made my daughter feel not so alone through this tough process, and just made her feel so loved. I can't imagine how much different the process would've been without the wonderful, big hearted Mrs. Shankle. I am literally grateful each and every day that we have her in our lives, and so is my daughter. I know she will never forget this experience and she talks about it with great fondness, due to the love of her teacher and her class.