Mrs. Lisa Gherman, MLS

This is my 14th year in education and 5th year in the library here at Alkek Elementary. I have a bachelor's degree in Interdisciplinary Studies and a master's degree in Library Science. I am passionate about working with children and helping them develop a love for reading. Most students who I meet that say they hate reading just haven't found what they like to read yet. Besides teaching information literacy skills, digital citizenship skills, and library skills, my job is to help connect readers with materials they may be interested in to become lifelong readers. I currently represent our teachers on the Education Foundation, I am the district tech blog author, I am the tech tip author for the TASL newsletter and a committee member of the TASL membership team, I also help with the high school Athletic Booster Club programs. I am married to Ron Gherman, who largely runs many of our community's youth sports organizations, and I am mom to two amazing boys who are a part of our district as students and athletes and both high schoolers this year. I am also a step-mom to my daughter and Lolli to my granddaughter. In my free time I love to read, run, go to the gym, and bake homemade goodies for my family. 

Ms. Jessica Favella

I've loved working with students for over 5 years, and this is first year with Alkek E.S. and I'm so grateful to be here! I earned my paraprofessional certification from Austin Community College. I'm pursuing a zoology degree, and my minor in psychology. I plan on working with children using pet therapy to help them cope with health or emotional problems and heal them. Pet therapy decreases depression and increases self-esteem, while encouraging interaction between patient, pet and their family. I really enjoy reading out loud, making the stories interesting by doing character voices, adding fun sound effects, and asking the class open ended questions, while reading the book. I love helping them find books that speak to their passions and can help them expand their interests. My hobbies are roller skating, stand up comedy, reading, hiking, cooking, swimming, fishing, collecting anything hello kitty and creating art and crafts. I'm a co-creator for a YouTube channel called, The T-Rex Paddock, where we do toy unboxings/reviews, game streams, reactions, and discuss all things dinosaur or paleontology related. I'm a fur mom to 4 sweet kitties, and plan on having kids of my own, one day! I love that our library has the cutest guinea pig named, Mr. Bubbles. I promise to create a safe, positive learning and nurturing environment for our awesome Alkek scholars.