Teacher - Mrs. Melissa George

Classroom Aide - Miss Rose

Special Education - Elementary Life Skills

Pine Street Elementary

About Mrs. George

My name is Mrs. Melissa George and I am the elementary life skills teachers in the district. This will be my 19th year teaching. I live in Annville with my husband, Larry, and our two children, Lilli, age 16 and McKenzie, age 13, who are also students in the district in 10th and 7th grade.

As a young child, I grew up in Palmyra and attended both Pine Street and Northside. As a graduate of Palmyra myself, I know how dedicated the district is to education. It is great to be on the other side of the spectrum now as an educator and being able to give back to the district and community like they did for me once.

I graduated from the district in 2001. I also attended and graduated from the Lebanon County Career and Tech Center's Childcare classroom that year. While at the Vo-tech, I received extensive training in lesson planning, as well as planning and implementing activities for science, social studies, literacy, math, sensory, fine motor, read aloud, and other areas. We ran our own preschool twice a week. As part of this class, we also had the opportunity to observe and volunteer in local daycare, preschool, and kindergarten centers. I was placed in the daycare center at Lebanon Valley Brethren Home in Palmyra and at Forge Road in Kindergarten with Mrs. Kay Lesmeris. These experiences provided me with a solid foundation in education and furthered my interest in becoming an educator. Additionally, while at Vo-tech, I was also given the chance to observe and volunteer in South Lebanon's IU 13 Lifeskills class. This experience in particular helped me realize that I had an interest in special education.

I received my Bachelors in Education, specializing in both elementary and special education, from Millersville in December of 2005. I was very fortunate to get a permanent special education position mid-year at Pine Street in Palmyra. I started in January of 2006, immediately upon graduating. At that time, I was the 3rd-5th grade part time/supplemental learning support teacher. The following year I moved to the 2nd-3rd grade part time/supplemental learning support classroom when the classroom divisions were split to allow for smaller class sizes. After 3 years, I was transferred to Northside in the same position, but with various grade levels, ranging from 1st to 4th grade. During the 2011-2012 school year, I was transferred back to Pine Street again, where I currently am. I received my Masters of Education with a specialization in Elementary Reading and Literacy from Walden University in December of 2010.

I have a passion for special education and could not see myself anywhere else. I truly enjoy working with students with special needs and disabilities. It is one of the most rewarding jobs. I enjoy being able to work with small groups and having the students for several years. Having them over several years allows me to really get to know them, as well as their families. Seeing the progress in my students over the years is truly something amazing. Witnessing a child who once struggled with basic letter/sounds relationships, suddenly taking off and reading, is the BEST feeling in the world! It proves students with disabilities CAN and DO learn when given appropriate time and instruction. Each day with my students is a blessing.

In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my family, reading, going to the mountains, visiting PA state parks and collecting stamps for our State Park Passport book, chasing waterfalls, doing puzzles, listening to music and going to see concerts. I enjoy volunteering in different areas. I am the Girls on the Run (GOTR) liasion and also a coach for Pine Street. This will be my 7th year as a coach.  I love getting to know and work with girls that I otherwise may not have an opportunity to work with.

About Our Support Staff

Miss Rose has worked for the district for 22 years in various roles, including both one on one and classroom aide positions in resource rooms, learning support rooms and most recently life skills. She also serves as a coach for Pines Girls on the Run team. She lives in Palmyra with 2 of her 4 children. She has 2 boys and 2 girls. In her free time, she enjoys baking, cake decorating and spending time with her kids.  She also loves all things Disney.  Miss Rose is excited about working with the children again this year.