The national tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012 reminded Americans of the heroic role our teachers play daily. Selflessly dedicating themselves to their students, several have lost their lives while performing their duties. This should be remembered the next time someone bashes teachers or complains about their work schedule. Teachers are more than part-time workers, and their load is not easy to bear. They give their time, energy, and passion to our nation’s children. Some have paid the ultimate price. Here are 15 hero teachers and school staff members who died protecting students. It is important that they are recognized and their sacrifice is remembered:
Victoria Soto
Victoria Soto lost her life at the young age of twenty-seven. She was a first-grade teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. Before the shooting that caused her death, she spent her last moments hiding her students in her classroom.
Ms. Soto was shot and killed in her classroom on December 14, 2012.
Lauren Rousseau
Lauren Rousseau also taught at Sandy Hook Elementary School. She was shot and killed at the age of 30 while protecting her students.
She was filling in for maternity leave as a substitute teacher.
Anne Marie Murphy
On December 14, 2012, Anne Marie Murphy was another teacher who sacrificed her life while caring for her students. Her body was found partially covering one of her students.
She was still cradling a young, six-year-old child in her arms. She was fifty-two years old and left behind four children of her own.
Rachel D’Avino
Rachel D’Avino was described as a vibrant, young woman, filled with enthusiasm for life. She was a behavioral therapist who worked with teaching young children on the autism spectrum.
She was a strong advocate for individuals with autism. Her position at Sandy Hook Elementary School was only temporary, yet she paid with her life at the young age of 29 during the Christmas season of 2012.
Dawn Hochsprung
Dawn Hochsprung was the principal at Sandy Hook Elementary School. When she heard the commotion in her school, she headed toward the source of danger and tried to stop the assailant.
She died in her brave attempt to protect her students. She began her career in Special Education, later becoming a principal.
William David Sanders
William David Sanders was the only teacher who was killed at Columbine High School in Colorado on April 20, 1999. Sanders was 47 years old and taught business and computer classes.
He was a basketball and softball coach as well. He helped to evacuate more than 100 students during the massacre committed by fellow students. Sanders died in devotion to his students.
Mary Sherlach
Mary Sherlach was attending a meeting at Sandy Hook Elementary School when gunfire erupted on December 14, 2012. She exited the conference room alongside principal Dawn Hochsprung and moved toward the shooter. The two women were killed in the school’s main hallway.
Sherlach was 56 years old. Since 1994, she had served as the school psychologist, supporting children whose challenges could make school difficult for them.
Shannon Wright
On March 24, 1998, a fire alarm brought students and teachers out of Westside Middle School near Jonesboro, Arkansas. Two boys had organized an ambush. As the shooting started, English teacher Shannon Wright placed herself in front of sixth grader Emma Pittman to protect her from the gunfire.
Emma survived. Wright later died in a hospital, leaving behind her husband and young son. She was 32 and had taught in the same school district she had attended as a child.
Liviu Librescu
At age 76, Liviu Librescu continued teaching engineering at Virginia Tech. On April 16, 2007, he kept his classroom door closed against a gunman while students fled through the windows. He was shot and killed in the attack.
As a child in Romania, Librescu survived the Holocaust. He later taught in Israel before joining Virginia Tech in 1985, where he spent more than two decades teaching and researching the behavior of aircraft structures.
Michael Landsberry
On October 21, 2013, Michael Landsberry confronted an armed student with his hands raised at Sparks Middle School in Nevada. As other students escaped, he told the boy to lower the gun. The boy shot and killed him.
The 45-year-old math teacher had served in the Marine Corps and belonged to the Nevada Air National Guard.
His effort to halt the attack later earned him a Carnegie Medal.
Scott Beigel
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Scott Beigel gave students escaping gunfire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, access to an unlocked door. On February 14, 2018, the geography teacher allowed them into his classroom but was shot in the doorway before he could reach safety. He was 35 years old.
Beigel also served as a cross-country coach and summer camp counselor. Kelsey Friend, one of the students he brought inside, later promised his mother that she would call her after school, continuing the daily calls Beigel had made.
Aaron Feis
Aaron Feis served as an assistant football coach and security guard at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. After a student alerted him to the gunman on February 14, 2018, he drove his golf cart toward the building. He was fatally shot while opening a door to an exterior stairwell.
Feis was 37 years old. Following his death, the National Football Foundation gave him its Gold Medal, which his wife, Melissa, accepted on his behalf in December 2018.
Chris Hixon
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During the same Parkland shooting, Chris Hixon, a Navy veteran, athletic director, and wrestling coach, entered the building in an effort to stop the gunman. He was shot after going onto the first floor and later died from his injuries. He was 49 years old. Later, his family established an athletic scholarship fund to help students pursue their education, continuing the work he had done for them at school.
Eva Mireles
Eva Mireles was a fourth-grade teacher at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. She was 44 when a gunman attacked the school on May 24, 2022. Her daughter, Adalynn, said that Mireles placed herself in front of her students to shield them.
She had worked in education for 17 years. Outside of school, she enjoyed running and hiking, activities she mentioned in the brief biography she wrote for her students and their families.
Irma Garcia
Irma Garcia taught at Robb Elementary School for 23 years. She and Eva Mireles taught the same fourth-grade class, and both were killed in the May 24, 2022, attack, which also claimed the lives of 19 children.
Garcia’s nephew said she died with children in her arms while trying to protect them. She was a mother of four and had spent her entire teaching career at the school.
The public should be well aware of the sacrifices these teachers made while in the line of duty. The first instinct of these hero teachers who died protecting students was to protect their students. Self-preservation was not their intention. Educators face a great challenge every day in a position that is often not appreciated. After Sandy Hook and Columbine, and many simple acts of heroism that take place every day in the classroom, everyone in this nation should thank a teacher!