Righetti High School students and staff mourned the death of a popular English teacher after hearing about her passing when they returned to school on Aug. 17. Deanna Byrne passed away sometime over the weekend of Aug. 14 in Ashland, Ore., according to a statement from the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District.
Superintendent Mark Richardson said that the contributions Byrne made to students and education would not be forgotten. “She will be deeply missed. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends,” Richardson said in the statement.
Byrne worked at the school since 2009 teaching advanced placement English. Former students remembered her as a teacher who made a difference in their educational experience and someone who led by example.
Righetti High School junior Marisa Velasquez, who took honors English with Byrne last year, remembered one instance in which Byrne allowed her and a friend to hide from the rain in her classroom during a downpour. The classroom was in a portable building with no overhanging shelter. Between class periods Marisa and her friend headed to pick up a book one of them had forgotten in Byrne’s room.
“The rain was coming down so hard that Mrs. Byrne let us stay in her class for the period so we wouldn’t get drenched cause we didn’t have an umbrella,” Marisa said.
Righetti High School junior Marcus Velasquez, who also took honors English with Byrne last year, said she loved to help others.
One way she did that was through humanitarian trips to Uganda. Over the years she made several such trips, often taking her students with her.
Former Righetti student Nik Koyama said Byrne was a leader who helped her students to expand their perspectives.
“Mrs. Byrne was a different kind of teacher. Instead of just encouraging us to do more outside of school, which most teachers still don’t do, she would suit up and do it with us,” Koyama said.
Notes from grieving students covered the door to her classroom shortly after students heard of her passing. School representatives said counseling services were available to students on campus.
This article appears in Aug 20-27, 2015.
