Counseling, Scholarship Intended to Help Heal and Remember

Two months after science teacher Ken Green died suddenly of a heart attack on June 29, the school is still adjusting to his absence.

An announcement over the loud speaker informed students that counseling would be available to anyone who wanted to talk.

“Whatever is needed, we’re there,” said Community Health Awareness Council (CHAC) counselor Aida Muller, a campus CHAC representative. Muller was one of two counselors who went to Mountain View High School Monday, July 2, to break the news to Green’s summer school class and offer grief counseling.

The school is also in the process of organizing an annual scholarship in Green’s honor. The school hopes to fund the scholarship through donations, which can be made payable to the Kenneth Green Memorial Fund and given to Silvia Alcala in the main office. Donations of any amount are greatly appreciated.

Teachers were informed of Green’s death via school-wide email sent by Principal Wynne Satterwhite. She explained what happened and invited them to a memorial service in San Francisco on July 7.

During the Teacher In-Service days prior to the school’s start, a tree-planting ceremony was held in the football field following a staff meeting in the Eagle Theatre. Staff were invited to speak and take turns shoveling dirt. According to Satterwhite, the school’s football team hopes to somehow remember Green at the next Mountain View-Los Altos football game.

Green was scheduled to teach four classes of biology and one class of integrated science this year. Tom Budd, who taught part-time in both the science and math departments last year now works full-time in the science department teaching five science classes in Green’s place.

“I think we’re coping with it well,” Science Department head Craig Seran said. “We’re muddling through.”