On Saturday,
June 30, 2007, Greenwood Elementary second grade teacher Shawn Salterberg
passed away. Our community joins his family and friends in mourning this
wonderful teacher - and wonderful human being - who gave so much to us.
This
page will serve as our memorial to Shawn. Please send you memories
of Shawn -words, pictures, whatever you like - to the webmaster.
We will add to the page as submissions are received. Please check back
often, as we will also announce plans for a memorial at school later in
the year.
Donations
in Shawn's memory may be made to CancerLifeLine,
a group that gave Shawn much comfort.
Mr.Salterberg was a great teacher. I remember when I
was in 2nd grade he was very nice and made us laugh. He had weird ideas
sometimes, but whatever we did with him, we always had smiles on. I was
really sad when I heard that he died. Now there will be no more laughter,
no more neckties, and no more construction belts. He inspired me to do
many things that I've never done before. I will always remember him.
-Amira L. Suntana (11 years-old)
I was lucky enough to work with Shawn for two years
at Greenwood. He was my neighbor both in the school and in our neighborhood.
He would deliver me to school with his fun stories that always involved
laughter. We would be laughing almost until the end of the ride to school.
We shared a couple of students and Shawn dedicated so much effort to trying
as many different ways to connect and teach his students who demanded
more attention. He developed ingenious ways to try and reach a common
ground with his tough students. If he wasn't successful, he would try
something else the next day. His energy was endless and his passion kept
running through with everything he did.
Shawn was a wonderful friend to share time with. He was a great story
teller in that the listener would be able to get vivid images of the stories
he was telling, as if you were there at the time that the action was taking
place. Sometimes his story telling would interfere with his driving on
the way to school. He was a wonderful blast to be around and I will never
forget the Staff Holiday Parties that we all shared with him.
I will miss my neighbor Mr. Salterberg and his wonderful tool belt. I
will keep his spirit and energy alive by remembering his neverending energy
and laughter.
-Kevin Zelko
Shawn Salterberg
will truly be missed by all that knew him. He was a warm and gracious
person who I enjoyed working with. His time was short here but I hope
that he is now doing well.
-Dr. Walter M. Trotter
I am so thankful
for the privilege of knowing and working with Shawn. Shawn's class was
on the 2nd floor for a while so he would come to xerox papers in the Main
Office for his class. That's when I really began to know my colleague
for his compassion, understanding, willingness to sit and listen and then
offer his words of encouragement. The Main Office can at times be a busy
and stressful place but just when we needed it, Shawn would come in with
his wonderful smile, toolbelt and all and just make us laugh. Many people
don't know it but he could do stand-up comedy really well for which Sue
and I kept telling him he was good at. A number of times when Shawn was
wearing his toolbelt he was mistaken for the custodian until he wonderfully
said "oh no, I'm a teacher but I'll direct you to where the custodian
is". It was always wonderful to watch Shawn help many of his students
with challenges at the beginning of the school year and see the progress
they made by the end of the year. He truly had a teacher's heart. If we
could only tell people how and what we appreciate about them while they're
alive instead of waiting until they have passed on. Thank you Mr. Salterberg
for having been part of my life but for a brief time.
-Cheryl Kelly, Greenwood's Secretary
“Singing
for Shawn”
Wonderful Memories of a Wonderful Man – Mr. Salterberg
Whenever I talked to Shawn I always asked myself if I ever met anyone
who smiled a bigger smile than he? His smile took over his entire face,
and just spread outward from there.
His enthusiasm and love of life were evident in everything he did. He
freely shared this contagion with all around him. He loved his students,
and they him.
What a wonderful, kind guy. He could make his students, and all others
around him laugh. Most importantly he could laugh at life, and even laugh
at himself when harried – which anyone teaching a classroom of second
graders knows is a constant state .
I remember how pleased I was when I learned my son Aidan would have “Mr.
Salterberg” for his second grade teacher four years ago. Shawn was
a near-rookie teacher at the time. I had no qualms at all about Aidan
being in Shawn’s classroom.
Shawn welcomed me with open arms to volunteer in his classroom the prior
year when Aidan was in first grade. I saw then what a kind; kid-centered,
“Teach from the heart,” person he was. I knew any lack of teaching
experience would be far outweighed by the love and compassion Aidan would
be bathed in by Shawn.
That is exactly how Aidan’s second grade year unfolded. Aidan loved
going to school every day. I never had to pry him out of bed and drag
him off to school. Aidan also learned that year how to love learning.
He received a daily dose of these loves because he saw them reflected
in the mirror of that infectious smile that was bigger than any.
Keep Shawn’s smile alive in your life. The best way to do that is
to choose or write a favorite song that reminds you of your shared experiences
with Shawn. For me, I have been singing Kenny Loggins'’s lovely tune
“Danny’s Song” ever since I learned the sad news the day
after Shawn’s passing.
I know this song is about a father’s love for his new son, wife,
and family life. I think it captures the level of expressed love that
Shawn had for my son, all of his students, and the family of everyone
around him.
Please give this
Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina live performance a listen and see if
you don’t agree.
-Scott Walker
I remember asking my daughter,
Emma, if she had a teacher preference for 2nd grade. She didn't hesitate
with her reply "Mr. Salterberg, of course!". She couldn't wait
to be in the class with "the teacher that wore the tool belt."
Unfortunately, she would only have Shawn a few months before his illness
was diagnosed. On the other hand, she was fortunate to be exposed to his
love of teaching and especially writing even if it was for a short time.
Shawn taught my daughter the power of writing, not just to journal but
to write letters. She came home from school one day and told me that someone
had upset her. I asked her if she had done anything about it. She said
she talked to Mr. Salterberg and that he said to write a letter explaining
how she was feeling. So she did. I asked her if she gave the person the
letter. She said she did not. I asked her why. She said that Mr. Salterberg
had also explained to her that just because you write a letter to someone
doesn't mean you have to give it to them because sometimes just writing
makes you feel better. I asked her if it worked. She replied "Of
course, don't you think I would've give it to her if it didn't?".
Emma has been writing ever since and I will always thank Shawn for instilling
the passion of writing in my daughter. He will be greatly missed and it
saddens me that my other children will not have the opportunity to know
such a devoted teacher.
My condolences go out to Shawn's family. I hope that they will find comfort
in knowing that he will live on in all of the children whose lives he
touched so deeply.
"Rather than mourn the absence of the flame, let us celebrate how
brightly it glowed."
Author Unknown
-Amy Doherty
I didn't
know Shawn well...But, my brief interactions with him were so energizing.
I remember so many mornings dropping Carly off, and seeing him come bounding
up the stairs to meet his class, ready to charge forward into the day.
I also remember vividly his table of rowdy guys at the auction a couple
of years ago--boiling over with laughter. Shawn seemed to really enjoy
the heck out of everything he did. He was really inspiring to me.
-Ian
Hamilton
Mr. Salterberg
was a great guy and a very nice teacher. He always let us have a lot of
fun during class and we got to play games. Now I will miss him a lot.
I wish he could of come back. He was the best teacher I ever had. He was
also great and very funny. I am sad my brother will not have him next
year.
-Emma Doherty (8 years-old)
Dear Mr.
Salterberg,
You were a very very good teacher. I really liked having you as a teacher
before you left. I like when you did the “home-visit” and came
to my house. Thank you for taking us on the trip to 826. I went to summer
camp there and I really liked them. I hope that you had a great time teaching
your class this year. Thanks for being a great teacher.
Love,
Jacob
-Jacob
Escobar
Mr. Salterberg
was my son Jacob’s 2nd grade teacher this year. We had the pleasure
of having him over to our house for a “home-visit” in the fall.
I was impressed by his dedication to his students and that he would take
time out of his personal time to meet and visit with families. I will
treasure this special time we had with him, and remember how much he meant
to my son as a wonderful, caring teacher.
-Stephanie Escobar
Shawn and
I talked a lot about becoming a great teacher. We had time to discuss
our ideas about reaching the needs all of our students. He was reaching
that goal, and I was proud of him. Okay Scott, which song? My last words
to him were from the group Kansas. "Carry On My Wayward Son".
It will haunt me each time I walk by Room 103.
'Surely Heaven waits for you'.
-Capt. Shook
Kind, gentle,
patient, and funny Mr. Salterberg.
Not only did Shawn work on school skills, he worked with the children
on life skills: how to deal with one another, the consequences of one’s
actions, the importance of respect, courtesy, and of thinking about other
people and their feelings. He talked to kids on their level and was always
available to talk with parents.
Stella enjoyed going to school and participating in Mr. Salterberg’s
class. She felt free to approach him and he would always kneel down to
her level for discussions.
We'll never forget the vision of Shawn bouncing down the hall with a smile
in his bow tie and tool belt. We feel blessed to have known him.
-Stephanie Nelson
and Kendall Magnuson
Mr. Salterberg was a great
teacher. It is hard to believe that my friends and I were the last class
to have him for a whole year. We were lucky!
He had parties for every holiday. He encouraged us to bring lots of food
for the food bank at Christmastime and we brought the most food of all
classes.
He did a magic show on the last day of school—which was really cool!
He brought his dogs to meet us. Their names are Mickey and Molly and we
played with them for at least half an hour. I learned a lot in his class.
My family and I feel very sad that he died. It just doesn’t seem
right.
-Stella Magnuson, age 9
Mr. Salterberg
was a good guy and he let us do fun things. He was funny and he did really
cool things. I will miss him so much.
-Jane Neal (8 years old)
