Hundreds of students at Loyal Heights Elementary gathered in the cafeteria this morning for a top secret assembly. Even the teachers were clueless, “What’s going on here?” one teacher asked us. When everyone was settled down, Stan Emert with Symetra Financial announced that second and third grade teacher Ellen Saltsman was a “Hero in the Classroom.”
Symetra has teamed up with the Seahawks to recognize just 24 teachers in the Seattle School District. First-year Loyal Heights principal Wayne Floyd nominated the seventh year teacher and told the students, “She’s a great teacher because she loves her kids, works hard to prepare the lessons and she doesn’t give me any trouble.” Saltsman said she was shocked and surprised. “This is really nice,” Saltsman told the group, “There are so many great teachers at this school and I’m really lucky here because I have a lot of great role models.”
Saltsman was given a 12th man Seahawks jersey, a $350 gift card to Office Max and two tickets to the October 11th game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Before the game she’ll have field access and watch the players warm up. The kids ooh’d and aah’d when they heard she’ll be up on the Hawk Vision screens.
But the biggest surprise was when Seahawk running back Justin Forsett came in. “I’m here today to say thank you to Ms. Saltsman and all you teachers for all you do,” he said and gave Saltsman the plaque.
The kids got to ask Forsett questions like, “Does it hurt when you get hit by the linebackers?” (it depends on how much the guy weighs) and “Does it hurt when you get hit by the ball?” (no).
Because Saltsman has been given this award, the school now has a chance to win $20,000 through the Symetra “Heroes in the Classroom” program.
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