Perham Public Schools Mourns Loss of Twenty Year Paraprofessional, Connie Foltz

via Perham Public Schools

PERHAM (KDLM) – Perham Public Schools is mourning the loss of their “most loyal Yellowjackets”.

Connie Foltz, passed away this week from ALS. She served as a Paraprofessional in the school district for twenty years. The District said on Facebook that saying Connie made an impact on students and staff is an understatement; “Connie made an impact on everyone she came in contact with.”

Foltz spent most of her time as a para working in Janet Buchin’s classroom. A favorite classroom activity was always painting ceiling tiles with their 8th-grade students who would be moving on to the high school the following year. They painted a tile together so they would always remember those students. Last December, in the midst of Connie’s battle with ALS, she invited Janet and two former co-workers over to help her paint a special tile, one so that all who entered that classroom, would always remember Connie.

ALS, a progressive nervous system disease affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing loss of muscle control. Eventually, ALS affects the control of the muscles needed to move, speak, eat and breathe. There is no cure for the fatal disease.