As this year is coming to an end, Salida High School is saying goodbye to a beloved staff member, Mary Weber, who during her time in the district has been adored by teachers and students alike.

Weber is the interventionist here at SHS. She has been in the district for three years now but a teacher since 1980. She started teaching on the Navajo Reservation outside of Gallup, New Mexico in a small town called “Many Farms” at a Bureau of Indian Affairs K-12 dormitory school, where the children were housed and went to school.

Weber has a degree in science education. She taught biology and earth science throughout her twenties, but then changed her path and chose to follow her interest in English Second Language (ESL) education after realizing that a main struggle for students was not knowing how, or struggling to, read. After moving to Colorado, she went back to school and received her degree in elementary education and committed herself to the goal that every child in her classroom would be able to read at grade level.

“I enjoy seeing students learn through encouragement and positive reinforcement,” said Weber. “Students get excited about their learning and I find such joy in teaching.”

This summer she plans on going to Peru to hike the Machu Picchu Trail while also continuing her passion and dedication to ESL education. In a town called Loreto located in the Baja Peninsula, she plans to teach elementary school students and adults in after school programs.

Although goodbye’s are always bittersweet, we wish Weber the best, and she will be greatly missed by all here at SHS.