Not every lesson is learned in a textbook. Some of the most important ones come from people like Mrs. Coffey.

She didn’t just teach English or AVID, she taught students how to be real with themselves. With a heart full of kindness and a voice that never sugarcoated the truth, Mrs. Coffey was the kind of teacher who would hold you accountable because she believed in you. She told you what you needed to hear, not what you wanted to hear, and somehow, she made that feel like love.

“She once gave up her entire lunch period just to let me talk,” one student who wished to remain anonymous shared. “I didn’t even know who to go to, but she always gave me a sense of belonging. All of that just so I could feel heard.”

Mrs. Coffey stepped away this year to welcome a child of her own, and if her students learned anything over the years, it’s that you don’t always realize what you have until they’re gone. Her presence was the kind that felt comforting until suddenly it wasn’t there, then that’s when you truly felt the weight of how much she did, and how deeply she cared.