Tonya Hyatt of Heritage Elementary

Tonya Hyatt was nominated by Alison Smith, who says:

“My daughter was diagnosed with Crohn’s three years ago. It’s an awful, embarrassing disease. Her teacher took her time and her own money to make the class and others around her more aware of what Crohn’s does to my daughter. It was a HUGE blessing for my daughter. She got some confidence back and support from all of her class and peers. All because her teacher made kids AWARE!!!

Joslyn was soooo blessed this year to get this selfless, AMAZING, incredible, humble teacher. She contacted me a month ago and asked if it was okay to bring awareness to their class with “Joslyns Journey with Crohn’s.” She is a firm believer of making the kids AWARE of something, then they are “ok, that’s cool.” The month started off with lots of thorough research of what Crohn’s is and all the symptoms that Joslyn goes through. The Crohn’s week itself was so much for the kids. It started off with a newsletter explaining the week. Monday, “Put a lid on Crohn’s”. Tuesday, “Sock it to Crohn’s”. Wednesday, “Team up with Crohn’s”. This day they made posters with the facts they learned about Crohn’s and pictures and words of encouragement. It was a sight that brought tears streaming down my face. They also brought to school white T-shirt’s which they spray painted to wear on Friday. Thursday, “Purple ribbon day”. They all wore purple ribbons and decorated the school with ribbons. Then, Friday was AMAZING! Joslyn and her friends made a cute video of Crohn’s and what she deals with, it was so FUN TO WATCH. After, Joslyn gave a cute speech with pictures of her journey so far. The kids asked some great questions.

After, Mrs. Hyatt spent hours blowing up balloons (shout out to her husband and daughter for helping). We all went to the field along with the other 5th grade classes and yelled, “GO AWAY CROHN’S” and released the balloons. It was so amazing, the support, the smiles will be engraved in my mind forever. Tears streamed down all of our faces watching the kids run around. This was all because her AMAZING teacher wanted the kids to be AWARE. Thank you for some of our support team for coming to be with us. A HUGE thank you for Boomer’s brother and family who live further away, they did their own balloon release to support the day. So, AWESOME!!!!!! Thank you for making my daughter feel stronger and can have the support and love at school on those hard days.