My love of languages has led me to become a language teacher. I am in my first year at a new school, the high school where the middle schoolers I taught for nine years have attended high school. I also get to do lunch duty this year. I encounter perhaps 150-200 young people every day. I love what I do for the most part, although grading is not exactly a picnic.
But what happened today makes that little inconvenience seem completely meaningless. Today, an otherwise healthy 17-year-old student at my school passed away. He had suffered a stroke during his football game last night, underwent surgery this morning, and never recovered.
I did not have Andre in class, but I saw how this tragedy affected the kids in the lunchroom and classroom today. My school community has a close-knit, family atmosphere and it is wonderful to witness firsthand. Those kids lean on each other in their time of need, as they should. Unfortunately, this school has had more than its fair share of tragedy in the last few years.
I cannot imagine what his family has been going through for the past 24 hours. My heart is with Andre's family, teammates, classmates, friends, and indeed the entire SMW community. Rest in peace, Andre Maloney.
KC Star article about Andre
No comments:
Post a Comment