Areas of Focus: Grades 3rd through 5th
Melanie Sayles a dedicated, creative, and passionate educator. This is my 27th year in public education in various roles throughout the years. I am a native of Virginia, where my teaching career began. I taught at a very rural school in Southwest Virginia for 12 years K-6 before relocating to Winston-Salem, NC. For the past 13 years I have been employed by the Winston-Salem Forsyth County schools as a classroom teacher (7 years) and an instructional facilitator (6 years).
After finishing high school, I attended the local community college and received an associate’s degree in general education. I then transferred to Radford University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies. I got my first teaching job as a Title 1 math teacher shortly after graduating. After teaching for 10 years, I decided to go back to school and work on my master’s degree. I graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 2003 with a master’s in Instruction Technology. I decided to move to Winston Salem in August of 2004 and was hired to be a 3rd grade teacher at Konnoak Elementary. I was a 3rd and 5th grade teacher at Konnoak as well as the curriculum coordinator over my 10 year stay. I then transferred to Brunson Elementary where I taught 5th grade for 2 years. I am currently the Instructional Facilitator at Gibson Elementary.
On a personal note, I am a mother to very creative and innovative 13 year old that never ceases to amaze me. I also come from a very large close family, where I am the youngest of nine. Family and church play a huge role in my success in life. I attend Calvary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem where I sing in the choir.
Over the past 25 years I have touched and impacted the lives of many scholars while in the classroom and as an instructional facilitator. Teaching is a passion that is rewarding in the long run.
The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education. Martin Luther King, Jr.