Death of a Student

Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful.  And believe me, I am thankful.  I am thankful I have known and taught so many children in my 15 years of being a teacher.  Some of my students are in 5th grade while others are sophomores in college!  But this blog entry is about one student in particular, Joshua Newman.  I taught Josh at ACS (American Community School in Athens) my first year here in Greece.   His family was here for 3 years - left after my first year (grade 4) and returned to Herndon, VA. 

First day of school Grade 4 - ACS

Joshua was the big friendly giant.  He was the tallest boy  in our class but he was so kind and sensitive - like a big teddy bear.  Joshua had epilespy.  Fortunately, he never had a seizure in grade 4 at school and only had some minor tremors but as he grew and his body was changing the seizures were increasing.  Josh was working with doctors to find the correct meds and dosages to help control his seizures.  But, on Sat. Nov. 20 in the middle of the night, Joshua had a terrible seizure and died.  His mother found him in the morning already gone.

Words cannot express how I feel and especially how the Newman family is coping with this.  My heart goes out to his parents and his two older sisters.