NRMS teacher Deborah Loving was surprised by the level of support from students. Since she is an intervention specialist, most of the school’s students don’t know her.
When New Richmond Middle School teacher Deborah Loving walked into the morning staff meeting on Halloween, she was surprised to find that pink was the costume of the day in her support.

All her fellow staff members were dressed in pink in support of her upcoming medical challenge. She had a bigger surprise coming when the middle school students arrived.

Almost everyone was wearing pink in support of Loving, who faces invasive breast cancer surgery Nov. 6 followed by cancer treatment that will keep her on medical leave until after the holiday break.

“This caught me by totally by surprise,” said Loving, who was diagnosed with breast cancer last April. “The staff and 400 kids were able to keep this a secret from me all week.”

Loving went from table to table in the cafeteria during lunch time thanking the students for their support.

“It’s very uplifting to see this kind of support and helps me keep my mind off what I’m facing,” said Loving. “The most heart warming thing about today is, since I’m a special ed teacher, that most of these kids don’t know me yet they’re showing their support .”