Kathy Bolander Salamon - Temple City Ward

 

My name is Kathy Bolander Salamon. I was born into this stake to Glayde & Dean Bolander and am in

Temple City Ward. I am married with 2 daughters (11 & 13). We have a cat and 5 chickens and began fostering kittens last summer. About a year ago I became the Assistant Scoutmaster for my daughters BSA troop in Monrovia and have been volunteering as a merit badge counselor and Trask committee member which I am truly enjoying.  I hybrid homeschool my 2 daughters and am finishing up my teaching credential, work part-time for my husband who is an artist and work fulltime as a longterm teacher for a Kindergarten class in Temple City. In my down time I like to hang with friends, do activities with scouts, veg and spend time with animals.

I would like to share an experience with you. When I went back to school several years ago to become a teacher I was really struggling if this was my path so I said a prayer. Literally that day I received news that my schooling was paid for and I passed some critical tests. I knew this is where I was supposed to be even if the journey has been long and difficult. I had really been struggling with figuring out what to do with my girls during student teaching where I had to be gone from 7:15 to 4 M-F. Thankfully I had made wonderful connections through baseball with Sara Kelley that put me in contact with amazing teachers so that helped immensely, but even with my parents' help it was going to be tricky. Then the semester before I had to do this the pandemic happened. I student taught last semester from my home and was able to be here for my daughters which was another answer to my prayers. The wonderful teacher who was my friend developed cancer and was given aggressive chemo before surgery. I was able to step in and teach for her when she wasn't able because I already knew all of the students and how to run her classroom. She expressed how much her mind was at ease knowing that her kids were taken care of. Unfortunately she suddenly passed away from complications from chemo. I was able to take over the class so the students were able to be supported by a teacher they already knew and had a relationship with. Though this was a hard experience for all, I know that Jen was able to concentrate on herself and her family and that allowed her to have some peace and comfort in the end.

The pandemic was going to happen, but I truly believe that my wonderful loving Heavenly Father put me here at the perfect time to be able to complete my schooling and help a friend through her trial. I will always be grateful for the op
portunity to finish my school and serve and support a friend and her students through a difficult time.