Ideal teachers are those who use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross, then having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create bridges of their own. – Nikos Kazantzakis

Morgan Hobgood and Chris Reed visit their former teacher, DeLana Attaway 2 weeks after her return from the hospital. Photo by Jodie Woodward.

When Coppell Middle School North teacher DeLana Attaway, was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma brain cancer in December, the news came as a shock to students who had grown close to the teacher who dedicated her life not only to making learning more enjoyable, but to creating a special bond with her students.

“Everyone loves It’s a Wonderful Life, and when you realize your life has touched someone else’s, it is so humbling because you do not think of yourself as anything special—and I don’t think of myself as anyone special,” Attaway said.

Attaway did, however, become someone special for many of her students.

“I had [Mrs. Attaway] in seventh grade; in eighth grade some of my friends and I would go and visit her after school and to her,” sophomore Morgan Hobgood said. “We talked to her about everything we would talk to our best friends about. We definitely considered her to be one of our best friends. It was good to know you had someone you could be comfortable with and say anything to on campus.”

Hobgood received a call over winter break from Attaway’s husband, Dick Attaway. He explained to her his wife’s condition, which had progressively shown more symptoms of the disease.

What first began as simple headaches slowly developed into the loss of her right peripheral vision. Her condition worsened when memory loss began to take place routinely. The Attaways were then sure there was something wrong and decided to get it checked out when cancerous brain tumors were discovered.

A week after Hobgood was informed about Attaway, the monthly newsletter was sent to parents addressing of her situation and condition.

“When my mom read [the newsletter] she broke down and started crying,” sophomore Chris Reed said. “That’s how much she affected even the parents; Mrs. Attaway was a huge inspiration to my mom.”

Reed and Hobgood started a Facebook group to discuss writing letters to Mrs. Attaway to send good wishes and show their appreciation.

“She has been here for us, and I wanted to be there for her,” Reed said. “I thought these letters were a perfect reminder of how much we care about her, how much we love her. I mean, everybody loves to have a hand-written letter.”

The response was enormous, and within an hour Attaway was recognized both by current and former students, even strangers who had formed an opinion on the teacher by ear.

“I got a flood of emails that said, ‘oh, I was a student of Mrs. Attway’s, please let me be in this group,” Reed said. “I did not think it would get this big this fast. I think I was contacted by 40 people in an hour.”

Reed has collected several letters since Jan. 18 but is expecting more from students who are trying to find the perfect words that reflect their feelings.

“I was hoping they could write about memories with Mrs. Attaway; they can say their favorite thing about Mrs. Attaway, they can talk about a funny moment in her class, or funny lessons,” Reed said. “I already got a letter from someone who didn’t even have her.”

Attaway is known for opening up her classroom after school and helping her students with any issues they had, even if they were no longer her students at all.

“My sister came back from school and said Mrs. Attaway had a brain tumor and she could not do anything for a while, so I went to visit her to see how she was doing,” junior Kayla Boyer said. “It was really fun because we got to talk about things we hadn’t talked in a while.”

Helping her students comes naturally to Attaway.

“I look at the people around me and I think—I have been surrounded by so many awesome people as far as growing up, as far as having a ministry with those girls, as far as just being with them and watching them grow up,” Attaway said.

“Letters to Mrs. Attaway” quickly found its way to CMSN. Seventh and eighth grade history teacher Jessica Kindberg is accepting letters from students at the middle school. In honor of Attaway, both CMSN and CMS East is teaming up to host a charity basketball game at Coppell High School on Feb. 20 at 6:30 p.m. Proceeds from entrance fees and concession sales will go directly to the Attaways. T-shirts will be sold for the event as well.

Blue wristbands are also being sold for $5 to help benefit Attaway. The wristbands were an idea of Attaway’s colleague, CMSN drama teacher Brittany Reese.

“The original order [of bracelets] was 200, all of which was sold within a week,” CMSN office secretary Sara Sims said. “All the proceeds will be going toward paying for her medical expenses. The band has her name on it with one of her favorite bible verses, Philippians 54:67.”

A silent auction in honor of Attaway is also being discussed.

Because of the bridges Attaway helped her students build, they will continue to show their appreciation for a teacher who is one of their best friends.

“She has always impacted her students in a positive way because she is really happy and bubbly to have new kids come in every year,” Boyer said. “She makes her kids feel almost like family.”

Attaway is keeping a positive attitude and believes that with her faith and those around her she will be able to fight through it.

“I am just so blown away by the generosity of everybody in Coppell and by the way they are appreciative. I am very thankful,” Attaway said.

Earlier today, Irma Kennedy, the Coppell High School Teacher of the Year, was honored today with a send off by the students of CHS, as well as a brand new Volkswagon from Lewisville Volkswagon. At around 10:20, students from throughout the high school left their classes and assembled outside the parent loop, and were surprised by the sight of a parked BMW occupying a central spot near the columns surrounding the front of the school, and the sounds of the CHS drum line doing their best to inform as many people possible of the importance of the occasion.

For more information on Irma Kennedy, go to: http://www.coppellisd.com/151720819104013263/site/default.asp

Coppell High School is holding its annual Open House event for all parents and students to visit the halls of CHS after hours and revisit students’ works from this year. Doors will open at 6:30, but families can come and go as they please until close at 8:30.

Teachers will showcase students’ works in classrooms and hallways, and parents will have the opportunity to hear raving reviews about their students. It’s a night to meet and get to better know teachers and what students have accomplished since August.

All teachers are required to attend Open House, and all administrators will be in attendance as well, so don’t miss out on this opportunity! English classes which will showcase writings and creative pieces should definitely not be skipped! And be sure to introduce your parents to this year’s favorite teacher.

As well as reviewing the work of CHS students, stop by the art hall (E-Hall) to enjoy a year’s worth of portfolio artwork by art students; also try checking out Engineering and CHS’s other creative electives and extra-curriculars.

Read about and see footage of last year’s successful Open House.

[View with PicLens]

On Tuesday, May 4, the Coppell ISD Education Foundation honored its 2009-2010 CHS Distinguished Scholars and their chosen teachers, as well as the district’s teachers of the year, at the Marriott Hotel in Irving.

The event, themed “I Hope You Can Dance,” began with the National Anthem sung by CHS senior Leah Gray and also ended with Leah and her father Rusty Gray performing the title solo.

CHS Principal Brad Hunt made a speech to highlight the seniors in attendance, who were invited based on their rank in the top 5% of the graduating class of 2010. In the speech, he pointed out many seniors by name, telling anecdotes about memorable moments with them, and even tearing up when he spoke about how this would be the first class to graduate that has had him as a principal all four years.

“I was a freshman when you were freshmen,” Hunt said.

Before the banquet, each top 5 percent senior was able to invite a CISD teacher who influenced them throughout their lives and had a photo shoot at Bob Freeman Photography for the program booklet.

In addition, HR Director Tracey Wallace and Sueprintendent Dr. Jeff Turner recognized the Teachers of the Year. The elementary school teachers of the year were David Barnette (Austin Elementary), Kimberly Becker (Town Center Elementary), Lisa Evans (Denton Creek Elementary), Julie Gossett (Lakeside Elementary), D’Ann Green (Valley Ranch Elementary), Crickett Roberts (Wilson Elementary), Jill Rupert (Cottonwood Creek Elementary), Lisa Ruth (Mockingbird Elementary) and Lara Wadlington (Pinkerton Elementary).  Secondary school teachers of the year were Gay Chapman (CMSE), Laila Sanguras (CMSW), Carolyn Wooldridge (CMSN), Jennifer Martin (CHS) and Brandy Osterberger (NTH@Coppell).

The students in the Top Five Percent and their teachers are listed below:

Annie Abraham – Leslie Vail (CHS, Social Studies)

Amanda Adams – Jodie Deinhammer (CHS, Anatomy)

Suwetha Amsavelu – Brenda Brinkman  (CHS, Health Science Technology)

Satvika Ananth – Rita Bauer (CHS, Social Studies)

Erin Barlow – Eileen Krueger (CHS, English)

Paul Blazek – Jeb Puryear (CHS, Chemistry)

Scott Bower – Kevin Casey (CHS, History)

Ellen Cameron – Bianca Coker (CSMN, Algebra)

Peter Chang – Monica Winters (CHS, Art History)

Daphne Chen – Zach Sherman (CHS, English)

Elisa Farrell – Mickey Pangrac (CMSN, English)

Drew Hasson – Paula Russell (CHS, Math)

Kirstin Hazelrigg – Valerie Garnier (CHS, History)

Bryce Heatherly – Tamera Westervelt (CHS, Art)

Arnold Hechanova – Michael Vergien (CHS, English)

Lucy Huo – Jennifer Martin (CHS, Biology)

Hiba Ibad – Heather Aston (CMSE, English)

Chaitnya Jayanti – Kirk Richardson (CHS, Math)

Daniel Lee – Debbie Youngs (Mockingbird, Assistant Principal)

Sam Levin – Matt Bowden (CHS, English)

Alexandra McCully – Scott Mason (CHS, Band Director)

Chris Nguyen – Amanda Stone (Lakeside, 4th and 5th grade)

Krishna Patel – Donnette Alexander (CHS, Economics)

Shaan Patel – Joey Ashbrook (CMSN, Band Director)

Bharad Raghavan – Robert Gribble (CHS, Physics)

Eric Ressler – Tim Dixon (CHS, History)

Sara Saastamoinen – Ian VanderSchee (CHS, Math)

LeeAnn Stover – Jan Bourg (CHS, Math)

Avery Szalkowski – Jim Griffin (CHS, History)

Holly Tallon – Jeremy Varnell (CHS, Latin)

Henry Trahan – Don Kemp (CHS, Math)

Jeffrey Xue – Ray Pool (CHS, Health Science Technology)

Vicki Yang – Carson Thompson (CMSW, 7th grade English)

Rebekah Yates – Allison Anderson (Wilson, Kindergarten)

Quinn Zhang – Michael Brock (CHS, History)

Chip Zurita – Mike Yakubovsky (CHS, Engineering)