Souls of Shaler Area

Michelle Bosiljevec, Shaler Area Schools Lunch Lady "Being involved with my daughter brings me the most pleasure now.  Everything I do in my life revolves around her.”

Jen Ferri,  Physician Practice Operations "I wanted to get into the medical field like my mom, because I wanted to help others. She was a nurse. I started as a medical assistant. I am now in physician practice operations.”

Nicole Cignetti, Teacher My most cherished family tradition occurs at Christmas time. Every year on Christmas my dad gives an individual card or letter to myself and my two sisters. He highlights special things that have happened over the past year, tells how happy he is that we all spend the holiday together, talks about the grandchildren, etc….With it he gives each of us either a picture, picture book, or collage of some sort that also highlights some special event with our family from the past year. This is so important because I love to hear him reflect on the past year, share the memories and see how much my parents enjoy their time with us (as adults) and now also with my own children, their grandchildren. My dad wasn’t always this sentimental when I was growing up, so I love to see how much he cherishes our family and our time together. 

Amber Kalbaugh, Student “Follow your interests all through life, so you do what you love.”

Shelly Niggl, Business Owner "I always wanted to own a restaurant and at 21 I was given the golden opportunity to buy Casey's.  It has been my life for the past 24 years.  I like to support the community and they supported me."

Carly Schwartz, College Student “I look forward to traveling a lot in the future."

Bethany Leas, Manager "I went in as a marketing major because I liked people.  Then I realized that I wanted to help people, so I changed to a psychology major in my junior year because my true desire was to help people.  Now, I manage a foster care and adoption agency and couldn't be happier."

Stephen Porter, Small Business Owner “There’s a lot of things that are different now from how they were when I was young. People, especially, they’re more fearful, less trusting. People used to be more trusting, we used to be able to play outside until dark, until dinner time, but you can’t do that anymore, you know? Parents don’t trust other parents; they don’t trust strangers as much. I mean, you always have to be careful, but people don’t trust people like they used to.  A handshake doesn’t mean the same thing.”