SANTEE, Calif. — Dozens of special education students say it wasn't fair that they never received a class reunion. In this Zevely Zone, I went to Santee to meet the special teacher who always makes things better.
"We are having a reunion," said Ms. Kaye Moog. As decades pass, memories from school days fade but the students who showed up for this class reunion never forgot Ms. Kaye. A few months ago, Andrew Darrell was thinking about his former classmates and thought it wasn't quite right they never got a class reunion. "No, it's not and I thought, 'Oh let's get something together for special ed kids'. I am sure they would like to see Ms. Kaye," said Andrew.
Ms. Kaye was a special education teacher for forty years. She received a text from Andrew. "How come we never got a reunion? I said oh, severely handicapped kids don't have reunions because some of these kids were with me for seven or eight years," said Ms. Kaye. I asked if she felt the students were slighted. "Well yeah, they never had a reunion that I know of, so I said Andrew that's a good idea and let me work on it," said Ms. Kaye.
A few months later, Ms. Kaye packed the park. "This is me," said Shannon Buxton pointing to her class picture. Shannon says Ms. Kaye made every student feel special. "Well, she would always call me her little butterfly, that is the one thing I will always remember," said Shannon. Just like, Ms. Kaye always remembered Erin Squire's birthday. "April 18" said Ms. Kaye. "April 18th," confirmed Erin with a big smile.
"Who is that?" asked Ms. Kaye pointing to a class picture. "That is me right there," said Ricky Hiatt who remembers the respect Ms. Kaye always gave him. "She was good, one of my favorites," said Ricky. Before Ms. Kaye's class, Alex Alvarado, didn't speak, but he does now. "Oh, Ms. Kaye was fun, we had a lot of fun. She was a good teacher, and she did a lot of stuff with us," said Alex.
Every year, Ms. Kaye wrote a class play. "There's Annie," said Ms. Kaye pointing to a play program she still cherishes. Annie Faucher has been a star ever since. "I am on TV. Yee," said Annie.
They all showed up, just like Ms. Kaye did for them. "It feels awesome, it's great to see everybody again," said Andrew who now dedicates his life to education at Santana High.
"He's my star," said Ms. Kaye. "Good job sweetheart." Ms. Kaye retired twenty years ago, and we asked her if a day goes by without thinking about her students. "They just get to you," said Ms. Kaye who took a long pause and started crying. "They are just good people," said Ms. Kaye. "They are valuable to me, and they are worth it."
It was time to eat pizza and cut the cake. "Ms. Kaye," the students shouted. Ms. Kaye thinks of everything. She even took a picture of the cake and sent it to a student in Virginia who couldn't make the trip.
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