JOHN

John Howell was one of the nicest boys that

I had the privilege of teaching!

He was soooo kind to everyone, as well

as being sooooo smart!!!

When he was in my class, he started getting sick

after Christmas.  His mom didn't know what

was wrong.  He definitely didn't want to miss school!

He would come for a little while, then call home.

When John went to the doctor, he was diagnosed with

Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

He soon began to lose his hair.

He would come to school, then go to the back

of the room and lay down.  He'd use my pom pom pillows.

There was always a lot of his lost hair on them.

John was in my FAVORITE class!!!

I ADORED those kids!!!

It wasn't because they were soooo smart (yes, they were),

but it was because they were soooo kind to

everyone and each other!  Almost all of them

had personal or family problems, too.
One girl, Tricia Wall, was killed at the end of her
7th grade year.  She was deliberately hit by
a drunk on a jet ski, while her dad was wading out
to fill the jet ski with gas.
This was at Lake Powell.

A couple of kids even lost a parent that year.

They really knew how to be empathetic!

One of my students, Andy Dollar, was going

with his family to California.  When he returned,

he had 2 hats for John to wear at school.

They were from the entire class!!!

They had all given money to Andy to get them!

I had no idea...they did it on their own!

The hats were from Disneyland and Universal Studios. 

John rebounded from the disease, and went on

to be a successful student, missionary, husband, and father!

 

 John with wife and children as a

successful student at Ohio State

(Just a little PhD in Marketing!)

John is now an 

Assistant Professor of Marketing

at

Penn State University!!!

Of course, a HUGE

"Proud Miss Mitchell Moment!!!"