This school year, Ms. Elissiry, a beloved teacher and educator, has been away from Fallon since the end of October due to a major knee surgery and her time off to heal. However, there is some interesting history behind our own amazing yearbook and history teacher.
Some students may ask why she’s been gone for so long and how she’s been. Initially, Ms. Elissiry left for surgery to have her knee replaced, planning to return in March 2026. However, plans changed when she had some unexpected complications, leading to her doctor sadly taking her off work for the entire school year. According to Ms. Elissiry, “I really miss my job, my co-workers, and my students.” During her time off, she’s been reading books, writing a couple of her own books about a family trauma she experienced, one on safety for tweens and teens, a crime thriller novel, and she even has more ideas for other books she’d like to write. In addition, she’s enjoying her time with her dog, Levi, a yellow Labrador, who is her best pal during her time off, especially on movie nights.
But what else is there to know about Ms. Elissiry? Well, when taking a deep dive into her past, Ms. Elissiry has actually been teaching at Fallon for five years, and in each of those years, she taught the yearbook class, which creates the yearbook and writes articles for our online newspaper, the Maverick (fmsnews.org). For her first three years, Ms. Elissiry was a 7th-grade core teacher, then in her fourth year, she taught two classes of 7th-grade history and two classes of 8th-grade history. This year, she’s reduced her classes to all 8th-grade history and yearbook. Ms. Elissiry told me that she absolutely loves teaching 8th-grade US History because it’s what she’s always wanted to teach. Before teaching at Fallon, she taught for one year in Pleasanton, teaching 7th-grade core at Harvest Park. According to Manyu Ganjerla, a 7th-grade student in her yearbook class, commenting on Ms. Elissiry, he states, “For some students, it may have been difficult with how she is gone because of the different teachers coming and going, but for the rest of the year, it should be okay.”
Surprisingly, before she was a teacher, Ms. Elissiry was a police officer with a degree in Criminal Justice. For about 8 years, Ms. Elissiry worked patrol, helped train new officers, directed a youth program for kids ages 14-21 with an interest in law enforcement, and served as a CPR/First Aid instructor and a hostage negotiator for her department. She was also a detective investigating sex crimes, child abuse, and elder abuse for two years. Unfortunately, Ms. Elissiry broke three discs in her spine while chasing a suspect over a fence, causing her to have her spine rebuilt with screws, rods, and cadaver bone, leading her to medically retire from the police department.
Even after retiring, Ms. Elissiry didn’t stop working. At home, she had two children and started her own business building websites and small business applications for local businesses. Additionally, she set up business networks and computer systems for clients. After six years, Ms. Elissiry got bored with her job, because she liked being around people. She decided to go into teaching, but that meant getting another degree in education, along with her teaching credential. So she enrolled in Western Governors University. It was said to take her about 4 years to complete, but she finished in 2.5 years! And just for the cherry on top, Ms. Elissiry also coached the JV Softball team at San Ramon Valley High School while going to WGU.
To sum it all up, our teacher, Ms. Elissiry, beneath all her armor, is a warrior! Fallon is grateful to have her as a mentor, coworker, friend, and ally. She’s been through so much, so let’s keep supporting her, as she’s supported so many others throughout the years, by providing a comfortable space and community for students and others to rely on. Until next year, Fallon misses you, Ms. Elissiry, and we can’t wait to have you back.
