My friend Stephanie Prince, principal of Adrian Burnett Elementary, posted a heartfelt tribute about teacher Rodney Kiser who passed away due to cancer last week. With her permission, I am sharing this with our readers who may not have seen it.

“This has been a tough week for us at Adrian Burnett. For sure one of the hardest in my career as an administrator. We had been hoping and praying so long for a miracle for Rodney and the Kiser family. Rodney Kiser was one of our fourth grade teachers and he passed away from a gallant fight against cancer. They don’t get much more stubborn or much better of a fighter than Rodney.

This loss hurts, though we know there is hope in his healing, even if it’s not on this side of heaven. I got to see the staff at Adrian Burnett love on the students, each other and the Kiser family this week and I continue to be absolutely amazed by how much I learn from them.

I am honored to have been able to work with Rodney at Adrian Burnett these last nine years, and I’d like to just share a few things that I’ve been thinking about that I shared with staff. So many great memories…

1. Post Conferences, End of Year Conferences and PLCs with Rodney. “Just tell me the scores, and let’s get it over with.” “I’m not doing those stupid learning intentions…” He “loved” when I tried to make him be reflective. Rodney was such an amazing teacher, so earning his respect enough for him to try something new meant a lot. Even if he complained and argued with us the whole time!

2. IXL. Even from the hospital and in spite of my best efforts, Rodney always kept tabs on his students through IXL and worked his magic to make sure we always purchased a subscription. He knew his students so well.

3. Dry erase markers and erasers. I don’t know anyone that went through as many as Rodney!

4. Impeccable penmanship. If you never got to see Rodney write on an ActivBoard using a mouse at his desk, you missed out! I still don’t know how he did it.

5. Singing in Michelle Wolfenbarger’s car. I’ve never laughed so hard as when we sang “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” with Rodney in Michelle’s car. Well, he didn’t sing it. He just tolerated it.

6. His heart for his students. You had to earn Mr. Kiser’s respect and his students knew that. But they also knew that he loved them. A few years ago, a student said that she knew she was his favorite but that he wouldn’t want others to know, and it still makes me smile thinking about it.

7. His love for his family. Rodney loved his family so much, and I got to see that up close these last few years. Playing in Hooplalooza together, celebrating his kids’ accomplishments, walking through his cancer diagnosis and up to Megann Kiser joining his team. His love for his family inspired me. Especially his love for Neoma Kiser.

I will miss him dearly.      – Stephanie Prince