The bond between a Ralston teacher and her fifth grader is stronger than ever. Janice Rhodes mourns her baby boy. He died recently after dealing with a rare heart problem. But about a month before, fifth grader Adrianna Case stepped in to help in a big way. It’s been about two weeks since Rhodes lost a huge piece of her world. “I think about his smile. Honestly, I’m thinking about him now. in peace,” Rhodes said. Her 5 1/2-month-old son, Caden, suffered from hypoplastic left heart syndrome.” His life was one full of pain and hospitalizations. He was happiest when he was outside, and he only got that for a few months,” Rhodes said. “Of the 5 1/2 months he lived, he was home for two of them.” In November, Caden came down with a common cold that resulted in a fever and high heart rate.” Everything escalated very quickly. “, Rhodes said. Caden died on November 17.” A combination of all these things, they believe his heart was just overworked. His heart was super, super fragile,” said Rhodes. Rhodes teaches fifth grade at Karen Western Elementary School. in Ralston. So far this school year, she has spent a lot of time outside of the classroom to be with Caden.” You try to be there for your son and my other two kids that I have at home and then there’s me. trying to be there for my students,” she said. Rhodes’ student, Case, noticed this struggle about a month before Caden died and decided he wanted to do what he could to help. “I got him a blanket and I felt like it wasn’t enough, so I started a GoFundMe,” Case said. With the help of her mother, Case was able to create a GoFundMe, raising $2,000 for her favorite teacher.” I thought it would only be, not like, $2,000. I thought it would only be a few hundred dollars,” Case said. For Rhodes, the joy of it all is so much more than the money. “It’s more that he did it to show his compassion and care towards others. Because she showed that for me, I know she would do that for other people,” Rhodes said. “I really love her,” Case said of Rhodes. Rhodes said he will return to work on Monday. She said she doesn’t think she would be able to pass if it weren’t for her wonderful students like Adrianna.
The bond between a Ralston teacher and her fifth grader is stronger than ever. Janice Rhodes mourns her baby boy. He died recently after dealing with a rare heart problem. But about a month before, fifth grader Adrianna Case stepped in to help in a big way.
It’s been about two weeks since Rhodes lost a huge piece of her world.
“I think about his smile. Honestly, I think about him now at peace,” Rhodes said.
Her son Caden, 5 1/2 months old, suffered from hypoplastic left heart syndrome.
“His life was full of pain and hospitalizations. He was happiest when he was outside and he only got that for a few months,” Rhodes said. “Out of the 5 1/2 months he was alive, he was home for two of them.”
In November, Caden came down with a common cold that resulted in a fever and high heart rate.
“It all escalated very quickly,” Rhodes said.
Caden died on November 17th.
“A combination of all these things, they think his heart was just overworked. His heart was super, super fragile,” Rhodes said.
Rhodes teaches fifth grade at Karen Western Elementary School in Ralston. So far this school year, she has spent a lot of time outside of the classroom to be with Caden.
“You try to be there for your son and my other two kids that I have at home and then I try to be there for my students as well,” she said.
Rhodes’ student, Case, noticed this struggle about a month before Caden died and decided he wanted to do what he could to help.
“I got him a blanket and I felt like it wasn’t enough, so I started a GoFundMe,” Case said.
With the help of his mother, Case was able to create a GoFundMeraising $2,000 for her favorite teacher.
“I thought it would only be, not like, $2,000. I thought it would only be a few hundred dollars,” Case said.
For Rhodes, the joy of it all is much more than money.
“More than that, what she did to show her compassion and care for others. Because she showed that to me, I know she would do that to other people,” Rhodes said.
“I really love her,” Case said of Rhodes.
Rhodes said he will return to work on Monday. She said she doesn’t think she would be able to pass if it weren’t for her wonderful students like Adrianna.