“I’m just shocked,” Sally Rankin-Gabel said when she learned that she has won both Best Preschool again, as well as Best Teacher in the Valley, beating out teachers at local elementary, middle and high schools.

Rankin-Gabel takes a moment to ponder where all this devotion from her families at North Bend Montessori, where she’s taught for 17 years, comes from.

“I feel like I’m in tune with what the parents want for their children,” she said. Rankin-Gabel believes in open communication between teachers, parents and kids.

“I look at what their needs are, what their learning style is,” she said.  And, she still gets excited about learning. Rankin-Gabel says she’s definitely got her professional side, but has fun getting goofy, sometimes. “I’m like a big kid myself,” she said.

Rankin-Gabel lives in North Bend and graduated from Mount Si High School in 1987. Today, she teaches 23 students. She keeps a big book of memories, and has counted her students—over 17 years, she has taught 380 Valley children.