Dr. Katherine Koonce was one of the six people killed Monday at Covenant School, but the head of the private Christian school will be remembered for the positive impact she had on her students and friends.
“She was just a dynamo, and she honored humanity so much. She had such a deep, abiding respect for the sacredness of life,” Anna Caudill told This Is Nashville on Tuesday.
Caudill met Koonce as a high school teacher at Christ Presbyterian Academy beginning in 2000. Koonce was the academic dean at CPA before she left to lead Covenant School in 2016.
The Lord has used our fearless leader @kskoonce and her husband Dick to help our school community weather the many storms of the past three weeks. And we are more #covenantstrong because of their tireless work! pic.twitter.com/bGYNtELFlC
— The Covenant School (@CovenantKnights) March 28, 2020
During her time at CPA, Koonce transformed how the private school taught students with disabilities. She developed something similar to the Individualized Education Program used at public schools.
However, Koonce’s work with students went beyond the classroom.
“There was this power that every student she worked with. … They knew how to advocate for themselves. They knew how to embrace who they were, and they found enough joy in it to be able to laugh at that and not take themselves too seriously. I know that in high school there’s times, too, that you laugh in order to hide anguish and anxiety, and try to fit in,” Caudill said. “But in those interactions that I had with students where I saw that laughter there was … a sense of freedom that I hadn’t seen to that point.”
Koonce was also a mentor to Caudill, and her positive influence inspired action in Caudill’s personal life.
“I’m so lucky to have had her mentorship in my life,” she said. “What I saw from Katherine … really lit a fire under me and is part of why I felt free and unafraid to adopt two young men who were disabled and to become a special education advocate. She talked frankly with students about their disabilities.”
On Monday night, Caudill saw an outpouring of love and memories on Koonce’s social media profiles from former students, including one who named her daughter “Katherine” in honor of the educator.
But when it came to publicly remembering Koonce, Caudill noticed that two well-known Tennessee Republicans — Gov. Bill Lee and U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn — had not mentioned her friend in their statements about the shooting.
Both lawmakers are connected of the Christ Presbyterian Academy community. Lee’s wife, Maria, taught at CPA and their four children attended the school. In her online biography, Blackburn is referred to as an active member of Christ Presbyterian, and Caudill said the senator previously donated to the school.
“The sort of thing that has tragically become the standard thoughts and prayers,” Caudill said. “It feels like radio silence from Marsha (Blackburn) about my friend and former colleague and … mentor Katherine, who loved children into becoming and empowered them there. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to understand that the value of an AR-15 is more sacred than my friend Katherine’s life.”
Update: On Tuesday’s evening, Gov. Bill Lee released a video statement on his social media platforms naming the victims of Monday’s shooting and acknowledged Katherine Koonce as a friend of his wife, Maria Lee.
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