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In memoriam to Ronald King |
We are all distraught over the passing of Ronald King, the extraordinary teacher of Mathematics at the Manhattan Middle School for Scientific Inquiry (MS328). We got to know Ron through his participation in the NSF GK12 program. In this capacity, Ron worked with a SEAS student for an entire academic year to incorporate technology into the math curriculum. Ron worked with me for the 2005-2006 school year, and with Kristin Shattuck for the current year.
Ron was a hero in the truest sense of the word. His
dedication to the betterment of his students' lives was awe-inspiring.
If students were struggling to understand material, Ron took it
personally as a reflection on his teaching. If some of the students in
the class had trouble passing standardized exams, Ron saw it as his own
failing. Even when there were clear signs of success, Ron would
already be looking for ways for the class to improve even more.
We
all tried our best to understand how Ron could possibly have handled
all of the responsibilities he took on. Aside from his full-time
teaching schedule, he had a second full-time overnight job as a social
worker. He was additionally working towards a master's degree in
education. He was completely dedicated to each of these endeavors, and
as far as we can tell rarely had time to sleep!
MS328 was and
is a tough school to teach in. Many of the children lack strong adult
role models, and Ron was the rare person who could take on this
challenge. These children have lost a father figure, a saint who was
capable of taking responsibility for their lives and never giving up
until they understood what it means to succeed. It is a horrible and
incomprehensible tragedy that he has been taken away from them. One
can only question the fairness of a world that allows something like
this to happen.
All of us at Columbia who have known Ron are
devastated. We only hope that the light he brought to his students'
lives shone brightly enough to see them through the rest of middle
school and high school and, of course, on through college and beyond.
Ron took his job as role model seriously, and he wanted to see his kids
succeed more than anything else in this world. Let us hope that out of
this nightmare, the message he has been trying to convey will become
clear to his students, and they will take his passing as inspiration to
overcome the obstacles in their lives and become the successes he so
desperately wanted them to be.
As Columbians, New Yorkers, and
people who have been touched by Ron, we are trying in these first
shocking hours to figure out how we can help see his vision through.
But we are daunted by the knowledge that this great man - seemingly the
only person capable of playing the role he did in these children's'
lives - has been senselessly taken away.
In the meantime, we
can only thank Mr. King - for showing us what it means to be a real
hero; for working tirelessly to see his visions through to reality; and
for showing us what it means to be a selfless, caring, humble beautiful
human being who knows what matters most in life. We will miss you
terribly.
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