Our Someone 2 Know is Nevadan through and through...after graduating Sparks High School, she got her bachelor's, master’s and PhD from UNR. Dr. Jennifer Salls now teaches students at Clayton Middle School and plans to continue doing so, despite a very serious medical diagnosis.
Middle-schoolers - notoriously difficult to communicate with - are the favorite kind of student for math teacher Jennifer Salls; "Because they're quirky, because they like to be challenged, because they enjoy different things.”
And they definitely enjoy Dr. Salls, even when she's teaching advanced math.
"She tells us, well, she'll be up front about it. Math is hard, get over it,” laughs 8th grader Aden Aiazzi-Palmer.
Classmate Kennedy Simon is also a big fan; "She's very open and she's very kind and she makes me feel very comfortable in the classroom.”
"She knows that all of us can succeed in life,” shares fellow 8th grader Harlowe Sevedge. “And she has a personal connection with each and every one of us.”
Because, says Dr. Salls, each and every one of them mean a lot to her; "I want them to be successful and I want them to like math and I want them to like school - so, I work pretty hard at it.”
So hard in fact, that she continues to teach during chemotherapy and other treatments for a very rare and serious cancer.
"It was a uterine cancer that metastasized to my lungs, and it's - it's terminal,” explains Salls.
A diagnosis that she's humbly pragmatic about.
“You know, everybody dies, I’m just gonna do it a little sooner than I anticipated, I think.”
Her devotion hasn't gone unnoticed.
“She balances that - her treatment - she balances that with being a great teacher,” student Tej Reddy tells us.
Jennifer Salls was recently inducted into Sparks High School - her alma mater's - hall of fame.
“She deserves this more than anybody else,” 8th grader Kanela Furuta says adamantly, “Just because of the impact that she has on all of her students.”
Dr. Salls shares why; “And because it's so fun, it's really hard to stop, because it is - and it's a challenge, there's always something new to try, something new to learn, something new to make happen.”
Dr. Salls is also undergoing experimental treatment in hopes of slowing the progress of her cancer.
