School honors teacher who lost battle with cancer

JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) - Losing someone is always hard, especially when they’ve made such an impact on your life.

Students and staff at Westside High School are mourning the loss of someone special, as math teacher Terri Tyner died Monday after suffering from ovarian cancer.

Tyner had been a staple at the high school since the day she stepped on campus, the educator of 24 years had something special that her co-teacher Chelsea Lehman said everyone looked for.

“She had the title of math teacher, but she was an advocate for each of these students,” Lehman said. “She loved them, she checked on them, she emailed them, she took care of her kids and her staff.”

Since her passing on Monday, the school has set up a shrine outside her classroom where people have dropped off donations and written sweet notes saying she is someone they will always remember.

“They know they have lost a teacher, but they know they have lost somebody that truly loved them and truly cared about them and wanted a relationship with them from day one,” Lehman added.

Lehman says even after surgeries and complications, Tyner would always come to their meetings even if she zoomed in.

Most recently when she was in the hospital, the only thing she was worried about was her students.

“You know she was up in the hospital, supposed to be taking care of herself but unsurprisingly she was always worried about everyone here and how her kids were doing,” Lehman said.

Last year Tyner won our Teacher of the Month award where you could just see how much she really loved what she did.

A visitation is set for Friday with funeral services set for Saturday.

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