Melissa Grai, VASJ's September Teacher of the Month

Congratulations to Melissa Grai, VASJ’s Teacher of the Month for the month of September.

New this year, the Teacher of the Month program recognizes teachers who go above and beyond the call of duty to serve the students at VASJ. The purpose of the Teacher of the Month is to reward VASJ’s wonderful teachers for all of their hard work and to recognize them publicly to the VASJ community.

VASJ Principal, David Csank, and Assistant Principal, Megan Scheider, choose the winner for the first month. After that, the previous month’s winner will pick the next. The selection process was intentionally designed this way to encourage teachers to pay attention to one other and gain an appreciation for how hard the teachers at VASJ work every day. The Teacher of the Month program will increase dialogue and interactions among teachers, leading to even more collaboration and communication.

This month, science and math teacher Melissa Grai was selected because of her passion and commitment to improve herself as a teacher. “She is a teacher who will never be complacent,” says Principal Csank. Melissa is consistently seeking help from principal with her lessons to make sure she is doing all she can to improve as a teacher.
In addition to teaching chemistry, pre-Calculus and calculus and serving as the junior class moderator, Melissa also volunteers to go on retreats and consistently goes above and beyond for her students by providing them with extra tutoring before and after school and during lunch.

Get to know Melissa Grai:

Subject(s) Taught: Chemistry, Pre-Calculus, Calculus
Clubs: Junior Class Advisor
Years at VASJ: 1.1
High School: J.W. Sexton HS
College: Michigan State University
Favorite Food: Chinese
Favorite Movie: Forrest Gump
Favorite Book: Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet
Favorite Music: Heavy Metal
Favorite Quote: “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” - Derek Bok