The Staff Member of the Month for Southeast of Saline Jr./Sr. High in November is Mrs. Kari Schmidt. Mrs. Schmidt is our Special Education teacher at SES. She has spent 18 years in education with the last 16 years at SES. Her favorite thing about SES is how supportive and caring the community is. The staff work together to support each other and students. She says that SES is the best place to be. Her greatest achievement is her family. She is married to her husband Ben and they have two sons, Brody who is a Freshman at SES and Reid who is in 6th grade. She is very proud of all of their accomplishments. Her nominator said this about Mrs. Schmidt: “Mrs. Schmidt has the mental and moral strength to confront and act despite the difficulties that she faces with new and old challenges from the students that she works with. This kind of courage allows her to move beyond the "normal" comfort zone of others, embrace potential failure, and pursue meaningful goals. When success isn't guaranteed she works diligently with our students guiding them to successfully exceed their goals. She has developed this courage by practicing acceptance, planning thoroughly, challenging negative thoughts, and taking small steps of bravery to engage our students in a way to encourage them to succeed. Mrs. Schmidt does all these things with grace and no expectations of recognition. Her mission everyday is to lift and encourage her students to do the best that they can.” She received her Bachelor’s Degree from Bethany College and her Masters Degree from Fort Hays State. Mrs. Schmidt’s message to students is that “each day is a new opportunity to learn and make a positive difference.” Great job Mrs. Schmidt!