Fellow teachers and parents react to the tragic loss of a dedicated, compassionate math teacher, one of many still missing in western North Carolina one month after Hurricane Helene
Brianna Rivera’s first impression of her seventh grade math teacher was that of an “outgoing, intelligent — even a little quirky — math teacher.” Kim Ashby had a passion for math and taught with a smile. Every day as her students left for their next class, she sang Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”
Brianna would soon learn there was more to Mrs. Ashby. In her, she found a teacher who wanted her students to come away with more than math skills. She found a teacher who sought connections with every student — who cared about their well-being as much as their report cards…