A few days ago, word got around that one of my favorite teachers, Mrs. Karen Abker, has been put in a tough situation.
My brother sent me a Facebook post written by Jennifer Larson that read:
To Whom It May Concern:
My name is Brittany Campbell and I’m a senior at Emporia State University. When I was a junior in high school, I moved from Manhattan, Kansas to Salina, Kansas, where I attended Salina Central High School.
I’m not going to lie to you, for me, Salina Central was a terrible experience. I was bullied, mistreated, overlooked, and, as a whole, completely misunderstood. It was no secret that I hated waking up every morning and going to a place where I had no friends, no teachers I liked, and no life. The only motivation I had was a note I kept in my bedroom closet that read, “Only two years and you’re out; One day at a time.” I hated walking into Salina Central High School, until I met Mrs. Karen Abker.
Mrs. Abker is the kind of woman who would stand outside her classroom doorway to greet every student who waltzed into her classroom. She made sure every student was cared for and never let an individual get overlooked. She knew I was a transfer student, so on the first day, she pulled me aside and asked me about myself; I was shocked that a teacher wanted to take the time to get to know the real me. She knew I hated my life and she knew I’d rather be anywhere than that dreadful school. Whenever I was feeling down, she knew. Whenever I was having a bad day, she knew. I don’t know how she did it, but I’m positive that woman has a special power for sensing loneliness and pain; it’s incredible, really. She’d always pull me aside, look me in the eye, and genuinely ask me of I was okay. Even though I fibbed every time and told her I was fine, she knew I was lying. I know this because she never stopped asking. She never stopped making sure I knew I had a shoulder to lean on if I needed one.
Aside from her personally connecting with students, she is hands down one of the best teachers I’ve ever had the pleasure of learning from, and trust me, I’ve been to a lot of schools and I’ve been through more than enough teachers. I knew she wanted every individual to succeed because she challenged us; nothing we did was easy. She made me want to learn and she pushed me to give a damn when it came to my studies. As a matter of fact, her class was the only class I ever studied for during finals week because it was the only one I cared about. (And, for the record, I was the only one in my class to get a 100% on the final.) None of the other teachers seemed to care as much as she did. All of the others made their jobs seem more like a chore rather than a pleasure, but not Mrs. Abker. I remember her telling my class that she wasn’t able to have children, so it felt like, by the way, she genuinely cared for us, she thought of all of her students as her kids; I absolutely love that about her.
I’ve always been good at English, but I never cared to learn more. I didn’t consider English to be my favorite subject until I took her class. She made me curious about everything from grammar to formatting, to outlining. Am I a pro? No, but she made me better. I would always type random questions in the notes app on my phone and go to her class during her free period just so she could answer all of the questions I’d come up with outside of the classroom. Because of her, my writing skills have skyrocketed. Last year around this time, I became the Editor-In-Chief for Odyssey. For those of you who don’t know what Odyssey is, it’s a social media website that consists of different communities of content creators all over America who write weekly articles about whatever their hearts desire. Like I said, I’m the EIC. I run the team by onboarding new creators, editing their work, and sending it off to get posted by my boss, Dillon Havens, in New York City. Because of Mrs. Abker, I was given the knowledge to qualify for the job I have today. Because of her, I’m able to educate my team in the same way that she educated me. I owe a lot to that incredible woman.
I graduated in May of 2013, about a month after that, a classmate of mine, Derek Wheeler, passed away. The whole community mourned his death and it’s not a secret that everyone was impacted in some way. At his funeral, Mrs. Abker spoke. The way she talked about him made it clear that she connected with him on a personal level. She talked about how great of a person, student, family member, and friend he was. She talked about his home life and how much he loved his late grandmother. She told stories that only someone who actually took the time to know him would be able to tell. How many teachers do you know would have been able to do what she did on the day of his funeral? I can answer that for you, not very many.
Mrs. Abker is a kind, caring, and loving individual. She’s smart, intelligent, and bright. Her witty sense of humor keeps her classroom alive and her energy never fails to put a smile on everyone’s face. She is a woman of great worth and, even if she made a mistake that put her in the situation she is today, everyone deserves a second chance. I don’t know what happened to put her in this rough patch, but I do know that good things happen to good people, and she is a good person. I can, without a doubt, say that Mrs. Karen Abker changed my life and letting her go would be detrimental to the young minds of Salina Central. I know that I’m just one person and I’m not even sure that anybody is going to take the time to read this, but if you’re reading this, please know that I’m a woman of my word and I wouldn’t write a letter like this for just anybody. If you’re reading this, please know that I’d be at the meeting if I could, but this is the best I can do. If you’re reading this, please ask yourself who’s going to be there for all of the other students who are just like me if Mrs. Abker is no longer employed at Central. If you’re reading this, please renew Mrs. Abker’s contract because, without her, who’s going to ask the students at Salina Central the most important question? Who’s going to ask them if they’re okay?
Best,
Brittany Campbell
I can only hope and pray that Mrs. Abker’s contract is renewed because I don’t know what Salina Central would do without her. I know that the district has the student’s best interest at hand and I have faith that they’ll make the right decision at their board meeting on January 10, 2017.
