ResourcesGrandmother Thanks APS for Fundraising Efforts
Print This Story
Dear Superintendent Barry,
I’m writing you to help get recognition for acts of kindness on the part of APS staff students which should not go unrecognized! There are so many stories about kids in trouble, but the good ones rarely get the recognition they deserve.
I understand you met my granddaughter, Lucy Johnson, at East Middle School last month as she sat in her stroller. My daughter, Marlena Field-Johnson was there to pick up a check from a fund-raiser the school did to help out the Johnson family with medical expenses. In case you didn’t know, Lucy spent her first 6 months of life at Children’s Hospital in Aurora and the next almost six months in St. Louis Children’s Hospital in St. Louis, MO, awaiting and then recuperating from a double lung transplant. Despite excellent medical insurance which covered all the costs of that first year, since arriving home, Marlena and husband Ben have been trying to manage on one income (Marlena was a teacher at Mrachek Middle School prior to Lucy’s birth) while taking on a $3,000 deductible, constant doctor visit and pharmacy co-pays not covered by insurance, and required quarterly one-week trips to St. Louis for follow-up care. We have been trying to get Lucy on Medicaid with no luck thus far, and meanwhile the aforementioned expenses have sent Marlena and Ben into financial distress.
To make a long story short, three APS schools conducted fund-raisers for the Johnsons: Gateway High School (Marlena and Ben met and graduated there); East Middle School (where Marlena got her feet wet in teaching by doing back-to-back long term subs, and where Lucy’s paternal grandmother still teaches); and Mrachek Middle School (where Marlena did her student teaching and two years as a teacher). Marlena and Ben have been so touched by the support from the students and staff at all three schools, and we feel that all involved should be recognized for raising a total of $3500!
Thank you in advance for your time,
Neva Field (mother of 3 APS graduates and Lucy’s grandmother)
Print This Story
