ADA, Michigan — At a holiday party in an Ada Elementary School first grade class the day before winter break, noise is as sure as a sugar high at the cookie decorating station.
No one quite knows what gives their teacher, Heather Schanski, the patience for it all.
“She’s kind,” said first-grader Alana.
"She’s very respectful,” agreed classmate Finn.
“She is the best teacher ever," said Eamon.
But what could help — is that she can't hear it.
“I was noticing ringing in my ears," said Heather.
When the ringing got in the way of teaching last school year, she knew it was time to find help.
“It's just sometimes difficult to know where the sound is coming from," said Heather.
"She doesn't hear us across the room sometimes," agreed Eamon.
That's when the woman capable of wrangling a class of 20 seven-year-olds got news she never saw coming.
“I went back to my family doctor… and she ordered an MRI," said Heather. "I'm so lucky because her daughter's in my class this year. It's so special that my doctor, who helped me, now I can help her daughter.”
Through that MRI, a spot was found. Heather had vestibular schwannoma, a benign, slow-growing tumor in the brain that affects hearing and balance.
“It was heartbreaking," she said through tears.
Heather, who has worked with first- and second-graders for 26 years, still didn’t want to miss a day.
“I didn't want to leave my class last year, I wanted to sub for the shortest amount of time," she said.
But that time unknowingly turned out to be crucial.
"It grew one-third in size. So, my facial nerve was very embedded when they got in there," she said.
Heather got the surgery she needed. But her hearing and balance were gone.
"They cut the balance nerve out of my brain. So, I went to Mary Free Bed three days a week all summer, and learned to walk again and balance again and ride a bike again. And I can do a cartwheel for my class. So I'm happy about that," she said, smiling.
Even when her health was failing, Heather wanted to be transparent with her students.
“To alleviate any of those fears or questions. I made a video for my class before school started. And I sent it to all my students.”
In it, she explained why her face droops on one side and why she may not hear her students all the time. She says it's been instrumental to her class's success this year.
“They're so empathetic and they really try hard to help," she said.
But when the woman who calls her class 'Schanski's Superstars,' found out how much her hearing aids would cost, she lost that superstar smile of her own.
“It's about $5,000," she explained, "at most it’ll last five years."
Until Wednesday morning at their holiday party, when three students stood up in front of their class and their beloved teacher, and recited a poem.
"Dear Mrs. Schanski," they read from a poster board, "This holiday season, we are grateful for all your hard work and helping us grow. You have had a tough year. Your holiday gift from all of us will only help you heal. We would like to offer you $1,000 to put towards your hearing aids, all brand new."
Heather, who was sitting crisscross applesauce on the rug at the front of the room began to cry.
"Oh, thank you everyone," she said, through tears.
She then hugged a student who was wearing hearing aids of his own and said, "We're in the hearing aid club together now!"
Heather says the best part of getting the hearing aids is the good it will do for everyone around her. Especially now that the only student with hearing aids in her class can feel included.
Her daughter is also studying to become an American Sign Language teacher at Central Michigan University following her mom's diagnosis.
"She was so encouraging. She said, 'Mom, if you're deaf in both ears, I've got you, we could do ASL!'" said Heather.
After students went off to their holiday party stations, making snowmen out of their classmates and completing their relay races, Heather just watched on.
"I'm just overwhelmed. All the families have been so supportive," she said through tears. “When I had to take time off after my surgery, I didn't even feel whole because I wasn't teaching, because that is who I am.”
"She deserves it," said Eamon.
"For sure," agreed Finn.
A holiday party in Mrs. Schanski's first-grade classroom is no longer a celebration of their winter break — but their teacher, who is unbreakable.
“They might love me this much," she said, gesturing to the poem on the poster board. "But I love them more.”
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