Alex Lin-Meyer – 4th grade teacher, Lakeridge Elementary

Job Description: Alex teaches math, science, social studies, reading and writing to 24 4th graders every day. He works on inspiring kids to have confidence in their ability to learn and get along with others. “Fourth graders are still at an age when you can help them change their perceptions about themselves. It’s very cool to be a part of that.”

Typical Day: Alex arrives at 8 am (after a 7:45 am Starbucks stop). He stays until 5 pm, sometimes 7 pm. “It takes a lot of planning to make teaching seem effortless.” Alex and his students do a lot of fun things like growing plants for science lessons, participating in student-run class meetings, reading amazing books, and showcasing their math talents. They also go on field trips to enhance learning in the classroom.

Best part of the job: “Making a difference in the lives of my students. I never dread coming to work on Mondays!

Something people may not know: This is Alex’s 4th year of teaching. So far he has taught 6th, 1st, 2nd and 4th grade. Before becoming a teacher, Alex worked as an aerospace engineer and a web developer. “I am blessed to be at Lakeridge. It is such a positive atmosphere – everyone is focused on kids and all of the teachers help each other. It’s a wonderful place to be.”

Outside interests: Alex and his wife Monica live in Ballard with their 2 cats. Alex says, “I couldn’t be doing this job without the support of my wife. She’s really a major reason I’m here.” One of Alex’s favorite activities is scuba diving, especially with sharks. “They remind me that I really am a small fish in a very big pond!”

Peggy Chapman – Administrative Assistant to the Principal

Job Description: Peggy keeps track of her principal’s (Fred Rundle) calendar, arranges meetings, prepares agendas, helps in the Health Room, interfaces with parents and deals with children every day. “Sometimes I just listen to them. They have a lot on their minds and need to tell someone right away. I am often the first person they see so they tell me.”

Note: While conducting this interview over a period of 15 minutes, at least 3 children had something to say to Peggy!

Typical Day: Peggy arrives at 7:40 am (“I am supposed to be here at 7:30 am, but I am not a morning person so I make it up at the end of the day.”) Before the children arrive at 9 am, Peggy checks her substitute teacher list, does the weekly bulletin on Mondays and issues keys to the subs. Then, she does attendance, and checks in on kids who don’t show up to make sure they are safe. In between she does everything in her job description.

Best part of the job: Everything. “I love my job! Every day goes by so fast I forget I am working.”

Something people may not know: “I am not as organized at home as I am at work.” And – Peggy makes it her job to know every child in the school.

Years worked in the district: 35 years. Peggy started as a volunteer at Mercer Crest Elementary and has worked for 6 different principals.

Outside interests: Peggy is an avid reader, especially mysteries. “I plan to be a sleazy detective in my next life!” She also enjoys golf. “I have played for 20 years and still haven’t gotten any better, but I like it anyway.”

Judy Burnstin – Career & Technology Education Teacher (CTE)

Job Description: Judy teaches beginning and Advanced Video, Photoshop and Web/Multimedia at Mercer Island High School

Location: Room 301 at Mercer Island High School

Typical Day: Judy starts her day at 7:30 am and spends an hour or so in her office preparing for classes. On non-block days, she teaches all of her classes, beginning with Web Multimedia, Advanced Video and Photoshop before lunch, then 2 beginning video classes in the afternoon.

Best part of the job: “I love working with kids, and since my classes are electives, the students usually want to be here. I set the parameters for the assignments and leave the content up to the students. They are very creative and come up with new and different ideas all of the time. For example, one Photoshop assignment is to design a book cover and have a plot summary. Every single one is different! These are currently on display at the high school library.

Something people may not know: Joel McHale of “Almost Live” and “Community”, and Ethan Sandler, an actor in “Crossing Jordan” were students in Judy’s classes.

Years worked in the district: 21 years

Outside interests: Judy enjoys movies (one of her favorites is “The Sting” with Paul Newman and Robert Redford) and always goes to the Northwest Film Festival. She also enjoys travel and politics. Last summer she traveled with her family on a cruise through Alaska’s Inside Passage. Judy spends a lot time with her own continuing education to stay current in the rapidly changing field of digital media education. “We used to call CTE “Voc Tech”. It has changed a lot over the years. It is still ‘hands-on’, but is very focused on up-dating course content so that student skills match industry standards. In doing so, there is also a more concerted effort to emphasize and incorporate core areas such as writing, math and science into our curriculum.” Courses are career focused by including a lot of skills that can be used by all students.

Melissa Ralph: 7th grade Math teacher

Job Description: Melissa teaches 7th grade Pre-Algebra to 135 students, five periods a day. Her students are learning the foundations of Algebra and Geometry in classes of 21 – 29 students.

Location: Islander Middle School

Typical Day: Melissa usually arrives at 7:30 am to plan her day before the students arrive. She teaches 1st and 2nd period, has 3rd off, then teaches 4th, 5th and 6th periods. She often spends time planning lessons on the ‘Smart Board.” Melissa really appreciates having this powerful tool for learning. “It is an interactive screen connected to my computer and a document camera. We have a lot of fun sharing our thinking and discovering new ways to solve problems. I can save all of the students’ work on my computer.”

Best part of the job: “Building relationships with middle school students. This is a difficult time in their lives – they have a lot going on besides school. I find myself being both a teacher and a mentor to them. It is so much fun to see them get excited about math.”

Years worked in the district: 17 years

Something people may not know: Melissa has taught 2nd, 3rd , 4th grade and Special Ed at Island Park. She also taught PE at Lakeridge. Last year she was named MISD’s Teacher of the Year.

Outside interests: Melissa and her husband Mike live on Mercer Island and enjoy spending time with their children, Austin, age 13, a student at IMS (this week, he has changed his name to Houston!) and Lauren, a 4th grader at Lakeridge. Melissa trains for Triathlons and loves to read in the summer. She tries to read all of the Newberry Award winners and enjoys Jodi Picoult novels and The Twilight Series.

Tracy Michaels: Paraeducator, Special Education

Job Description: Tracy works with Special Ed teacher Nancy Murray in teaching math, reading, writing, behavior and self-regulation skills to about 25 K-5 Special Education students at West Mercer Elementary.

Location: West Mercer Elementary

Typical Day: Tracy’s regular hours are 9 am – 3:30 pm. Her first students (five 4th graders) arrive at 9:30 am. Under teacher Nancy Murray's direction, Tracy works with 2 of the students, while Nancy teaches 3. Each session lasts 30 minutes, and there are 8 sessions each day. They use district curriculum, but also have access to subscription web sites for on-line resources. They do a lot of “pulling and planning” to find the right combination of materials for each child. Nancy Murray is in charge of writing and tracking the Individual Education Plans (IEP) for the students.

Best part of the job: “I love working with the kids and seeing their success at passing the WASL and being able to learn in the regular classroom setting. It is tremendously satisfying for me.”

Years worked in the district: 7 years

Something people may not know: “Every child in the Special Ed program requires one to one instruction in every area we teach.”

Outside interests: Tracy enjoys spending time with her son, Tony who is currently attending the Golf Academy of America, and her 88 year-old grandmother, who is in the process of moving in with her. She loves to read, especially true stories.

Todd Kelsay: Director of Transportation

Job Description: Todd is in charge of all transportation for Mercer Island School District students, including the MISD bus fleet and working with Metro. He manages 40 drivers, as well as all the sub drivers.

Location: The brand new Maintenance, Operations and Transportation Building located behind Crest Learning Center. The old MOT building was removed due to the PEAK project.

Typical Day: Todd begins his day between 6:30 and 7:00 am. This time of year he has been working with drivers to train students to cross the street safely as they get on and off the bus. He is also very busy with student bus count as this number dictates how much state funding the district gets for transportation. Todd is constantly working on route adjustments, making sure we don’t overload routes. There is ongoing work buying and selling buses, training drivers and dealing with student management issues. We have very few behavior problems on our buses!

Best part of the job: “I loved being a driver (Todd drove for his first two years in the District), but now it’s working with people who enjoy being around students. Our drivers have been with us an average of 14 years. They know all of the students’ names, and many students grow up with the same driver. Most of them will say this is the best job they have ever had. It’s a wonderful work environment.”

Years worked in the district: 5 years

Something people may not know: MISD is unique in that we allow students to use different stops, depending on where they need to go after school. We can accommodate almost any request.

Outside interests: Todd loves spending time with his family. He and his wife Kris have two children—their daughter Shea, age 12, is a student at IMS, and son Conner, age 16, goes to MIHS. Todd also enjoys mountain climbing and skydiving. He has climbed mountains all over the world, but particularly loves the Cascades. He has been on top of Mt. Rainier 30 times!