Tribute to a Life

Tom Hess was an eighth grade English teacher at the middle school where I work. He passed away from ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease, on December 14, 2010. The first time I met Tom was in 2002 at a "Meet the Teacher" night when my son was in the eighth grade. He told the parents that he had been inspired to become a teacher because he had a middle school teacher that had greatly impacted his life. In my mind had had said it was his eighth grade English teacher, but now I am not so sure. It impressed me as a parent that he had become a teacher not only because he loved his subject, but because he wanted to impact kids as he had been impacted. However, it wasn't until I became a coworker with Tom that I really began to understand the depth of his commitment to his students.

In my first year working in the library I learned about a new season: "Research Season."  At that time of the school year many teachers bring their students to the library to work on projects. The most notable project is the eighth grade research project. Over six "research seasons" I spent many hours with Tom Hess and his students, during regular school hours as well as after school. By the end of my first research season I became convinced that no student of Tom's ever had a good reason to do poorly on their research project.

Tom expected, no, demanded, that each student do his or her personal best. (One year a coworker and I found a whip-cracking sound effect that we played for Tom during his library time. He got a chuckle out of that.) But he also gave them every opportunity to do their best. In addition to personal attention during class time, Tom liberally distributed priority library passes to any student who wanted one and spent almost every day after school with any student willing to work. I never saw Tom impatient with any student genuinely working their hardest. However, any student whose effort was less than their best was a prime candidate to receive what we came to call "the wrath of Hess". Most students understood that Tom's "wrath" was an expression of his concern and care for them and his desire to see them do their best. As a result they endured it and loved him all the more for it.

Tom was a fixture on the annual eighth grade trip to Washington, DC. The trip was something he felt was so important for students that he had been known to pay for some kids who couldn't afford to go. After Tom died, my husband and I were talking and he had what I thought was a great idea: Start a scholarship in Tom's memory to help students who can't afford to go on the trip. I recently went to another staff member to present this idea and was overwhelmed to find out that Tom himself had created such a fund before he passed away. I am still shaking my head at that. I guess I really shouldn't be surprised.  He was that dedicated to students.

We have quality teachers who care about their students at our school. Tom Hess set the bar high for his students, for himself and for the rest of us who work at the school. Research seasons will come and go, but as the eighth grade projects begin, in the back of my memory I will be hearing a whip cracking and I will be smiling a sad smile as I remember Tom.

So why do I share all this with you? Because EVERY LIFE MATTERS. I did not realize how deeply Tom Hess's life had impacted mine until I began to contemplate and then face his loss.  Your life matters, dear one, and you will never be able to comprehend the depth of your influence on others. We all want to be valued and appreciated, but the truth is that sometimes our value is not appreciated until our influence is no longer felt. So, please, dear one, continue to strive toward being the best you and loving as many people as you can. When all is said and done, those who have known you will be grateful that you became a part of their lives as they realize just how much their own life has benefited because of yours. YOUR LIFE REALLY DOES MATTER. Live it well.