06/17/2026
Many graduations, including one in our family, happened recently! Such happy times marking new beginnings! While we definitely thank all the teachers that helped guide our students academically and made a difference in their lives, this story is a good reminder of all those working behind the scenes, the helpers who also have a tremendous impact! - Jane Barker
"The picture offered a reminder that the adults who shape a school community are not only the ones in classrooms. They are also the people students see every day in hallways, offices and cafeterias, whose presence becomes part of a child’s experience.
“I’m there from seven in the morning till 4 o’clock and I hear my name all day long: ‘Miss Deon! Miss Deon!’” Lucas tells TODAY.com, with laugh. “These are my kids.”
For Spradlin, the graduating senior, the moment resonated because it reflected a relationship built over years of small daily interactions. A Wheeler student since sixth grade, Spradlin says Lucas — known to students as “Miss Deon” — was one of several dining hall employees who became a familiar part of campus life, where small gestures such as hugs, high-fives and fist bumps, became part of the daily routine.
“It’s nice to have adults on campus who aren’t grading you,” says Spradlin, who will attend Yale University in the fall. “They’re just genuinely looking out for you. They want to know how you’re doing.”
The hug, he says, felt like a goodbye not just to a school, but to the people who helped shape his time at Wheeler."
One school employee’s tearful goodbye captured the powerful relationships that exist beyond the classroom.
