Sadly, Crystal Bennett, a beloved high school Special Ed teacher from West Jefferson, North Carolina, succumbed to Covid on Jan. 13, 2021. Photo credit: Ashe Post and Times.

I often write stories about teachers who have won numerous awards and recognition for their work in the classroom, but there are many teachers out there who silently work day after day, year after year, quietly accomplishing amazing things with their students. Those teachers may not earn awards, but they certainly deserve honors, for they are the cornerstone of the teaching profession. One of these is Crystal Bennett, a high school teacher from West Jefferson, North Carolina. Sadly, this dedicated educator succumbed to Covid on Jan. 13, 2021. She was only 36 years old.

Crystal taught Exceptional Children, which is another name for special education students, at Ashe County High School. Her career there spanned seven years, the first five as a special education assistant and the last two as a classroom teacher. Although her career as an educator was short, it was enough to plant her in the hearts of her students, parents, and colleagues.

“Crystal was compassionate; she worried about her students and their well-being every day,” recalls former classmate, coworker, and close friend, Heather Phillips. “Crystal had a way with her students, she could sense when they’d had a rough day and when there were issues, issues that needed (and were) to be handled before educating could occur. One thing about Crystal, she took care of ‘her kids’ at school,” continued Phillips.

Parent Karen Ham agrees with Phillips. “My son had her as a teacher in high school. She impacted him so much, there were times that he would struggle or be having a bad day. Crystal would see this and stop what she was doing and take the time out of her day to talk to him. She would try to see what she could do to make his day better,” remembers Ham. “And when he graduated, she never lost touch with him. She would still send him messages to check on him to make sure he was OK and staying out of trouble. I know he is going to miss those messages from her,” Ham continued. “She never gave up on her kids and always wanted them to do the best that she knew they could do,” Ham concluded.

To read more tributes for Crystal, see this obituary published in the Ashe Post and Times.