Georgia teens fundraise for beloved teacher diagnosed with leukemia

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Georgia high schoolers raised $127,000 in honor of their teacher who is fighting leukemia. They told Atlanta News First they wanted to show the same support she has shown to them over the years.

“It is a very quiet, invisible journey and it is very lonely,” said Kendrick Phillips an instructor at The Davis Academy.

You never know what someone is going through. Not even your favorite teacher, who brought joy into your school day and meaning into your life.

“She made me realize I can have confidence in myself. She really made me who I am,” said Daryn Mand, a student at The Weber School.

“She really cared about every student, not just from an academic standpoint as their teacher, but also them as a person and how they are doing,” said Jagger Kaye, another student at The Weber School.

You would never know Phillips, a happy, passionate teacher, has spent the last 10 years of her life dealing with CML, or Chronic Myeloid Leukemia.

“I will never ring a bell. There is no cure for it. It is an incurable form of blood cancer,” said Phillips. “I remember when they told me when I was diagnosed. You are in a marathon, you are not in a sprint. So we are just going to settle in and take things day by day but remember, you are in it for a marathon and they were not kidding,”

Mand and Kaye were nominated and accepted to lead the Weber School Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. For their fundraising project, they decided to collect money in honor of Phillips.

“I guess in a way of giving back to all that she has done for me and helped me with the last few years,” said Kaye.

Their goal was $120,000. They raised $127,000. They still have a little bit of time left, if they raise $150,000 by June 30, they will go to New York and meet with blood cancer researchers.

“I wanted to do something so meaningful that I knew would have an impact,” said Mand.

“There is an essential value within Jewish tradition in Hebrew which means to honor one’s teacher. Every single day those of us on the faculty and staff at The Weber School receive the benefits and the generosity of Daryn and Jagger expressing that value,” said Rabbi Ed Harwitz, head of school.

“I always hope as an educator to inspire my students and be a role model for them but I deeply stand in awe of the way they are inspiring me right now,” said Phillips.

Phillips said it is important to her for her kids to see her respond to challenges with joy and optimism.

“I feel like once you are aware, you decide to either become a mouthpiece, a role model about the resiliency that comes with it or you can choose to fold, but that is not my nature,” said Phillips.