Shelly Spadaro has been an educator in the Lyle School District since 1992 where she began her teaching career.

She has fulfilled many different positions throughout her career, including Title I Lead Teacher, elementary technology instructor, classroom teacher in grades 2-4 and finally kindergarten where she has taught for the past 10 years.

Over the years, Shelly has built many lasting, trusting relationships with the families of Lyle. She has prided herself in providing a warm, safe environment for her students, even having had several return as adults to share with her that her classroom was the one place they felt safe growing up. Shelly is committed to children. As a testament to her commitment, she has chosen to remain teaching in the same school district for her entire 23 year career, creating a history with the families of Lyle. She has now taught several generations of students.

As a full-time teacher and parent of three busy children, Shelly has had to find balance in her life, often juggling many family needs and work responsibilities at once, not leaving her much time for additional school activities. She has devoted her weekends for the past 12 years to supporting her own children in their pursuit of ski racing. But in spite of it all, one thing has never wavered and that is her dedication to her students. In a community with not many college-bound students, Shelly strives to instill a love of learning and confidence, building up her students’ self esteem at every opportunity. Planting the seed very early on that she believes in them all, Shelly tries to inspire her “kids” to be the very best they can be and that there is no limit to what they can achieve. They know she will always be their biggest cheerleader.

TEACHER FEATURE

Our Teacher Feature highlights the outstanding work of those teachers in the southwest Washington region who were nominated for the honor of Teacher of the Year.