Third grade teacher added at RWE

Though starting earlier this school year, on Sept. 25, Ralph Witters Elementary third grade teacher Rayann Casciato is certainly no stranger to Thermopolis. Having been born and raised here, following high school she attended the Sheridan campus of Northern Wyoming Community College as a psych major, then finished a Bachelor's in Elementary Education at the University of Wyoming in May this year.

Casciato's interest in education came from her babysitting for various families when growing up, then spending a lot of time in high school doing Community Resource Training (CRT) at the elementary school. She explained through CRT people get training for jobs they're considering going to school for.

Casciato and her husband are both from Thermopolis, and were looking for a reason to come back when the third grade position opened. "It's all worked out pretty nicely," she said, adding that all their family is here and it's nice to be close to them.

She's happy about the support she's received across the board from the current teachers. Everything they've provided has been very helpful. "I never would have made it my first week without my team and all the other teachers and employees. Everyone has been such a big help in getting me adjusted to jumping in at the middle of the year."

As for the students, she loves that they still enjoy coming to school and they're old enough to have independence, noting "It's a good mix." She's been getting to know where they're at in their learning and to know them personally.

"As I'm able to get to know them - it's been a blessing getting to know all of them - I can gauge where I want to go with them and the different things I want to be able to try to do with them."