Marci works in her daily life with teenagers. While she is technically a high school teacher, she is really much more than that. Mt. Edgecumbe High School is one of Alaska's boarding schools which provides opportunity for all high school aged teens to attend, regardless of where they live. In our huge state (over 650,000 square miles!), each is given the opportunity to go to high school even if their home is in the tiniest of villages in the northern-most or western-most or other-most regions. The downside is that most have to leave their homes for up to four years in order to obtain that high school diploma.
Thus, Marci is much, much more than a high school teacher. She becomes a mentor, a counselor, a guide. She becomes a very informal "parens patriae," an official term used when a child's natural parent is unable to provide parenting at a given time. In the case of Marci, her "parens patriae" role is by default ~ that is, because Mt. Edgecumbe High School students have are living away from their natural parents, Marci naturally (and quite easily) falls into that role. Not only does it happen naturally, but she does this with the compassion and concern for the whole-person-well-being of each student with whom she comes into contact. This is an incredible feat, in my mind, and one which can be accomplished only by those with the greatest devotion to those under their care. Marci is, indeed, one of those.
Marci, you are my hero and I feel so very blessed to be able to witness your incomprehensible abilities to love so freely. Your skills, your gifts, your innate compassion, and the classy manner in which you live your life are an example to me each time I think about you. Thank you for being such an awesome woman!
What a wonderful ANGEL Marci must be! Bless Her!
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