Dear Parents, Staff, and Patrons,
On Saturday we lost a dear and special member of the Weiser Middle School family, math teacher Marie Thomas. Mrs. Thomas was a highly influential and highly respected teacher due to her nature, convictions, and involvement. She contributed to many aspects of school operations as a teacher, coach, team leader,
volunteer, and mentor. She served on numerous leadership teams at the building and district level, taught at our alternative school and summer school, provided peer assistance and mentoring to WMS staff, staffed the before and after school homework support program for middle school students, sponsored many school level student organizations and special activities, the list goes on. She was a voice of reason as well as action, and was the “go to” person at WMS for most of her tenure. Additionally, she was active in the community, in her church, and a true leader within her own family. Marie will be dearly missed.
We plan to hold school as scheduled at WMS and at all other schools in the District on Monday, August 30th. Teachers will read a common statement to students during first hour at Weiser Middle School and at Weiser High School. A counseling center will be established at both Weiser Middle School and at Weiser High School for students who need support understanding and managing their personal feelings and emotions as they work through this situation.
Additionally, depending on your child’s history with Mrs. Thomas or their understanding of death in general, we urge you to take some time to discuss Mrs. Thomas’ passing with your child, answer their questions, and help them cope with any emotions that they may have prior to coming to school on Monday.
Please let your child’s school administrator, teacher, or school counselor know if you already know that they will need support while they are at school.
Mrs. Thomas’ family confirmed that her passing was likely COVID-19 related. That said, I urge you to be sensitive to the situation. Any speculation beyond her passing would be unfair and just that, speculation. And, it would be unfair to all who were close to her. We lost a valued member of our school community and Weiser community on Saturday. We need to focus our efforts on providing support and healing.
Our most sincere thoughts and prayers go out to Mrs. Thomas and her family, students and staff at Weiser Middle School, the Weiser School District, and our entire community at this time.
Respectfully,
Wade Wilson, Superintendent
