NOVEMBER 9, 2018, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A3
KeizerCommunity
KEIZERTIMES.COM
Keizer teachers win Crystal Apples
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
“It would take a casual
observer popping into Mike
Melting’s classroom about sixty
seconds to fi gure out that he is
all about kids,” wrote McNary
principal Erik Jespersen in his
letter nominating Melting for a
Crystal Apple.
“When visitors come to our
school, it is Mike’s class that I
want to show off because re-
gardless of the lesson, the time
of day, or the students he’s
working with, there is always
going to be something special
going on,” Jespersen said.
Melting, an automotive
teacher at McNary, was one
of three educators from Keizer
schools to win a Crystal Apple
on Thursday, Nov. 1 in a cer-
emony at Salem’s Historic El-
sinore Theatre.
Brad Dixon, social studies
and AVID teacher at Claggett
Creek Middle School, and
Laura Hoagland, bilingual in-
structional assistant at Kennedy
Elementary, were also chosen
from a list of 61 nominees.
After a career as a techni-
cian and manager in the auto-
motive industry, Melting made
the transition to become a high
school teacher about ten years
ago.
He’s been able to take the
complex subject of automative
technology and adapt it to suit
the learning styles of each stu-
dent.
“Mr. Melting saw that I was
eager to learn and he chal-
lenged me to excel in every-
thing I attempted, said Connor
Goff, a McNary graduate now
in his senior year of college.
“I always felt he cared for my
success, not just as a student but
as a person. There was never a
learning moment that was not
fi lled with compassion and un-
derstanding. Mike is the type
of teacher that every student
needs.”
Outside of the classroom,
Melting also volunteers for the
McNary band, moving equip-
ment and fi xing broken trailers.
“He refuses to let diffi cult
circumstances, bad weather, or
challenging timetables dictate
his effectiveness or demean-
or,” McNary band director
Chris Nelson wrote. “Main-
taining such an attitude while
going above and beyond what
is required is proof-positive
of an exceptional role model
for students. It is also the stuff
of which great colleagues are
made, and I feel that each time
Mike comes by the band room
just to check in with me and
my students.”
At Claggett Creek, Dixon
uses his own experiences trav-
eling, teaching and learning
around the globe to help stu-
Brad Dixon
Mike Melting
dents better understand other
people, cultures, communities
and traditions.
“I can easily say that out of
my entire school career, Mr.
Dixon is the teacher who has
made the biggest impact in my
life and has helped shape me
into the person who I am to-
day,” said Mikka Gribskov, an
eighth grade leadership stu-
dent. “Mr. Dixon is the teach-
er who you look up to. He’s a
person that you’d want to be
like someday.”
In nominating Dixon, Sheila
Morales and Ashley DeLaRo-
sa, library media assistant and
counselor at the school, wrote
“Mr. Dixon’s quiet and kind
demeanor are legendary at
Claggett Creek.”
Dixon is known as a “kid
whisperer.”
“He works exceptionally
well with students that struggle
with behavior and academic
challenges,” they wrote.
Hoagland has worked at
Kennedy Elementary for near-
ly 30 years supporting a calm
cafeteria for 430 students over
four lunches, every day.
She worked closely with
other staff to make Kennedy
the fi rst ENVoY-certifi ed cafe-
teria in Oregon.
Mrs. Hoagland’s cafeteria is
now a model for other school
staff in the district to visit and
experience fi rst-hand how to
create cafeteria systems, rou-
tines and an in-sync supervi-
sion team,” Kennedy principal
Jesse Leonard said.
Hoagland also runs bilingual
literacy groups throughout the
day.
“Teachers are often disap-
pointed if they don’t have her
assigned to their classroom,
Leonard said.
Please see CRYSTAL, Page A4
Laura Hoagland
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