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JGE mourns loss of teacher
Editor,
Jeremiah Gray-Edison suffered a great loss on Wednesday, Aug. 5. Mrs. Ruthi Kite, a teacher at JG-E, died after battling a yearlong illness. Mrs. Kite helped us in opening JG-E in August 2002 and was a JG-E teacher until her death. She was from the Lafayette area and was a graduate of Purdue University. After accepting the teaching position at JG-E, she moved to the south side of Indianapolis. One of Mrs. Kite’s two sons was young enough to attend JG-E, and she was thrilled to have him attend the school where she taught! We were excited too!
Some people are born to teach and be with children. Mrs. Kite was one of those people. She lived and breathed her students. It was important to Mrs. Kite that all children be respected and that they learn our eight core values. She loved each student exactly as they came to her. Mrs. Kite never worried about what previous teachers had or had not taught them. She accepted each one as an individual and encouraged them to use their strengths for special responsibilities or to help other students learn. She was extremely compassionate and became almost a member of each child’s family. Family was very important to Mrs. Kite — not just her own family, but each child’s family. She honestly felt that we all need to work together for each child’s success.
The week before she died she was still insisting that she would be back. The JG-E staff learned a lot from Mrs. Kite. Her motto was that every child was special. Every week she would bring at least one child to the principal or academy director’s office pretending she was mad. The children were always trying not to smile. She would “trick us” into thinking they were there for something bad. Mrs. Kite would then literally burst with pride in telling us what an awesome job the child had done on an assignment or with behavior. We all felt better after the visit.
Mrs. Kite did not want flowers at her funeral. She asked that donations be made for library books for the school. The Perry Township Education Foundation has established a Ruthi Kite Memorial Fund for donations to honor her wishes.
Ultimately, Mrs. Kite could not win the battle for her health. She may not be here physically, but she will always be in our thoughts, and memories of Mrs. Kite will make us smile!
Elizabeth Fox
Principal, Jeremiah Gray-Edison Elementary
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