Son in class an added bonus for veteran teacher

Friday, Aug. 20, 1999 | 4:33 a.m.

Clark County School District teacher Shari Scheele will attend her 17th opening day of school Monday -- one face among 12,770 instructors working in one of the fastest growing districts in the nation.

Zachary Scheele, 8, begins the third grade the same day -- one of 216,237 young faces that will include 12,460 students who are new to the district this year.

As fate would have it, mother and son will share the same classroom at William Lummis Elementary School, one of 236 schools throughout the valley, including eight new schools built to meet the ever-expanding student population.

"This is not as rare as people may think. I also had my 11-year-old daughter, Hilary, in my class," Shari Scheele, a 38-year-old native Las Vegan, said. "A lot of teachers in the district have had their children in their classes.

"I even taught at the school where I attended kindergarten through the sixth grade." The school was known as West Charleston Elementary when Scheele attended and is now Howard Wasden Elementary, 2831 Palomino Lane.

Scheele said that opening day of school is exciting for her whether the children she gave birth to are in her classroom or she is greeting 21 young strangers -- the state-mandated maximum class size for third graders.

"I get excited about implementing programs, decorating the classroom -- everything," Scheele said. "I find out who my students are going to be and send them welcome notes before they come to class.

Scheele says her secret to getting off to a good start with her students is "developing a nice rapport."

"I might come in and sing or say something off the wall, maybe even something that happened to me at home -- something they can relate to," she said.

Of course this year the stories of home life could prove to be somewhat embarrassing for one member of her class.

"I'm excited to have my baby in my class this year," Scheele said, laughing when she realized the term "baby" could cause Zachary to be ridiculed, or worse, during recess. "He's anxious to be in my class too. He's not my favorite student -- not yet, anyway."

Throughout her career Scheele has taught first to third graders, though she is qualified to teach up to the eighth grade.

"I like the little ones because they are kind and cute and are like sponges -- they want to learn so much," Scheele said, noting that she often draws on her school days in Las Vegas and uses the things that worked to make her a good student.

The thing Scheele recalls most about her school days that differs from today is that "I always remember being safe in school. It never crossed my mind to think otherwise.

"I used to walk to and from school without any worries. Now I drive my children to school. It's a sad part of today's society," she said, recalling incidents like the shootings at a Littleton, Colo., high school in April.

Scheele said the teachers who had the greatest influence on her were her fifth-grade instructor, John Page, now retired, and sixth-grade mentor, Chuck Santelman, now principal at Rex Bell Elementary.

"They were hands-on, science-oriented teachers who did things like hatch chicken and duck eggs, which is common now but was innovative back then," she said. "Ironically, John Page was still teaching at Wasden when I got a teaching job there, so I also got to be his colleague for a while."

Scheele is part of a prominent gaming family. She graduated from Hyde Park Junior High and Clark High (class of '78) as Shari Exber, daughter of longtime gaming executive Marty Exber and niece of Las Vegas Club founder and noted oddsmaker Mel Exber.

Though she has spent all of her life in Las Vegas -- except her first two years of college at the University of Oregon -- Scheele does not believe that gives her any advantage in the local school system over the 1,500 new teachers this year.

"It's not about where you teach. It's about caring and wanting to make a difference wherever you teach," said Scheele, who graduated from UNLV in 1983 with a bachelor of science degree.

"As a teacher, you should be willing to show patience and compassion. You should teach children how to get along and build their self-esteem."

Still, Scheele does not see herself working as a teacher 20 years from now.

"I really enjoy the work, but I believe there will be other opportunities for me outside of education," Scheele said. "I'm not the type of person to just sit at home. I'm a go-getter who likes to do stuff."

This year, Scheele will teach her students reading comprehension, grammar, math, science, cursive writing, Spanish, social studies and computer technology.