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District Newsletter

November 18, 2016

Superintendent's Message

Mrs. Manchur: Choosing Joy


When Ottawa Hills Jr./Sr. High School choral director Mitch Tyson retired and Donna
Wipfli made a decision to transfer to the jr./sr. high school to lead the choral music
department there, it left a huge hole in our elementary music program. Trying to fill the

shoes of people like Helen Iossi and Donna Wipfli isnt very easy. But, we set about the
task, interviewing many candidates for the position.
As part of the interview process, in the middle of our
questioning, Mrs. Wipfli asked, Would you sing us
a song? Its a good question to ask someone who
wants to lead your elementary music program. I was
surprised at the candidates who hemmed and hawed
and looked up into blank space to come up with a
song to sing to us. Some sang Happy Birthday.
One sang the National Anthem. There is nothing
wrong with that, but youd hope that a music teacher
has a much deeper cadre of songs than those
standards.
One candidate quickly answered, Of course! Do you want to hear an Aria, or something
fun? Of course, we wanted something fun. So she proceeded to sing a Halloween song
called The Ghost of John which ended with Wouldnt it be chilly with no skin on? She
didnt miss a beat. And I had a pretty good idea right then that we had found our candidate.
Her name was Kimberly Bright.
Her name is now Kimberly Manchur, as
she and husband, Jeff, were married in July
of 2015. Since becoming part of our
Ottawa Hills team in 2013, Mrs. Manchur
has continued to carry on the excellence for
which our music program is known at
Ottawa Hills. Her classroom is a warm,
welcoming environment where students
sing with enthusiasm and willingly learn
about music. The Brown Bag Chorus
continues to draw many fifth and sixth
graders to this lunch-time program. Family
members, Villagers, and guests continue to
be entertained by the students winter and spring concerts.
Mrs. Manchur has even taken our music program to the next level by helping to start an

elementary/junior high theatre arts musical program. In cohort with artistic director Darrin
Broadway, the two have involved hundreds of fourth through eighth graders in amazing
productions of Willy Wonka, Jr., Lion King, Jr., and this year, The Wizard of Oz. Her work
has opened new doors of opportunities in the arts for our students.
But sometimes when everything is moving in the right direction, there comes a detour that
changes our path and demands our attention. Such is the case for Mrs. Manchur. This past
July, she got a call from the doctor with the unwelcome news that she has cancer.
I had found a lump in my breast that at first the doctors didnt think was remarkable. But as
it was growing, I went back to the doctor. They did a mammogram, biopsy, and ultrasound
all in one day, so I knew they were concerned. They called me the next week and told me I
have cancer. Its the most common type called Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. My Oncologist
calls it old lady cancer, which is a good thing for me. Breast cancer in a young person is
usually an intense and aggressive
kind of cancer. The cancer I have is
slow moving, more like the cancer
that older women get, so thats a
positive.
Upon receiving the news, Mrs.
Manchur and her husband started
doing their research. They met with
doctors here in Toledo and at the
Cleveland Clinic and considered the various surgical procedures that were available. In the
end, they decided that Mrs. Manchur would have surgery at the Cleveland Clinic. She
shares, The Cleveland Clinic uses a fairly new procedure that is a single mastectomy along
with reconstruction using the patients own tissue. Its amazing how they can even
microscopically attach blood vessels. They attached blood vessels from my stomach area to
blood vessels in the chest wall. My surgery was eleven hours long and I was in the hospital
for four days after that.
Unfortunately, the surgery uncovered more issues. Mrs. Manchur shares, The tumor had
grown to more than three centimeters and they discovered that the cancer had spread to my
lymph nodes. They removed the sentinel nodes and tested those right away. All three
contained cancer. Then they went back in and took eight more. They checked those out
later, and thankfully, all were cancer free.

The discovery of cancer in the lymph nodes led to a more intense treatment plan. I did
have a PET scan after the surgery, and there was no cancer found in other parts of the body,
so that was another positive. But the treatment will be quite involved just in case there are
microscopic cells traveling in the blood stream, trying to find a home.
Mrs. Manchurs treatment will
consist of chemotherapy, radiation,
and hormone therapy. Chemotherapy
will last twenty weeks. The first
eight weeks, the treatments are
taking place every-other-week. Then,
the last twelve weeks, the treatments
will be every week, but at a smaller
dose.
Chemotherapy will be followed by radiation treatments every day for five weeks. After
those treatments, Mrs. Manchur will have a second surgery to finish the reconstruction.
Then, she will be on hormone therapy for about ten years. That will be a pill that I take,
she notes. "I cant have children while Im on hormone therapy, but they told me that after
two years, I might be able to take a break to have children.
Mrs. Manchur goes to the Ohio Oncology Center at St. Lukes Hospital for her treatments.
Fortunately, thats a short drive as she and her husband bought a new house in Maumee this
past summer, moving from Bowling Green. She remembers how the summer played out:
We celebrated our first anniversary on July 11. Then we closed on our new house in
Maumee. A week later I found out about the cancer.
Despite the curve balls thrown her way, Mrs. Manchur maintains a positive attitude. And,
she has invited her students to be a part of the process.
I have shared what Im going through with the students. Cancer cant be a secret. That
makes it so much harder to deal with. Its important to communicate with the kids before
they develop all these connotations about cancer. There are hard things in life. I want them
to know that you can go through the
hard times and still be the same
person. I want them to see that, no
matter what theyre going through,

matter what theyre going through,


they can choose joy. That is
something they can do every day.
Even on days when Ive had
chemotherapy and I feel bad, I dont
focus on how I feel physically but on
the joy I want to see and feel.
Cancer is unfortunately a huge thing in the world. Kids need to understand that nobody
chooses cancer. You just look at it as something you have to do. You can come out on the
other end a stronger person.
Mrs. Manchur endeavors to have discussions with her students that are age appropriate. I
tell them chemotherapy is like Brussel sprouts. We all know theyre good for us. They have
vitamins and they help our bodies. But we dont always feel good about eating Brussel
sprouts. They might make our stomachs not feel so good, yet they are good for other parts
of our body. I dont tell them about getting sick from treatments. I tell them that
chemotherapy is like Brussel sprouts. Its good for parts of my body, but makes me feel bad
in other parts.
Her students will ask Mrs. Manchur, Is this a Brussel sprouts week?
Her positive attitude helps to sustain Mrs. Manchur, but she points to the support of family,
friends, and colleagues as also being crucial in the journey.
The staff here at school has been
incredible, she notes. They have
worked in teams to make meals for
my husband and me. The specials
area teachers are working together to
always have something fun for me to
look forward to. It might be going
out for dinner or just going to Costco
to look around. We hope to do a
painting night in the future. It just
gives me something to work toward.
Jennifer Kapadia (Village resident and mother to second grader Sam) has been subbing for

Jennifer Kapadia (Village resident and mother to second grader Sam) has been subbing for
me and she has made this so easy. We plan the lessons for the whole month and shell come
touch base with me to understand what were doing. If Im partway through the day and
feeling like I need to go home, shes willing to come in with a moments notice. We just
stay in touch from day-to-day and shes always on call if she needs to come in for me.
But coming to school is good medicine for Mrs. Manchur. She shares, I love it when I can
come to school because it helps me
feel like myself. The kids give me so
much joy, and that carries me
through the next week when I cant
come because of the chemotherapy.
As Mrs. Manchur continues her
treatment regiment, she is buoyed by
the support of her husband, Jeff. He
teaches Music Theory at BGSU.
Recently he started working for the Toledo Symphonys school of music, giving lessons.
Others join in as chemo buddies for her. Im at the oncology center for three hours when
I go for treatment. So I have chemo buddies that come with me. My mom came from New
York. My husbands parents came from Manitoba, Canada. Ive got good friends here in
Toledo who help, and Ive also got a line-up of friends coming from as far away as
Mississippi, Kansas City, and Seattle to spend time with me while Im in treatment.
Its been said that a truly happy
person is one who can enjoy the
scenery while on a detour. And
though Mrs. Manchur would be the
first to say that this is not a path she
would have chosen to take, her
scenery is full of friends, family,
colleagues, and students who are
making the trip worthwhile. As we
approach this Thanksgiving season,
we pause to give thanks for the things that make us happy. But Mrs. Manchur reminds us
that even when we are on journeys that are short on happiness, when one chooses joy, it
makes every step a reason for gratitude.

As we all get ready to enjoy bountiful Thanksgiving feasts next week, Mrs. Manchur
answers her students questions by sharing with them, Next Tuesday, for me, its Brussel
sprouts.
There are hard things in life.
I want them to know that you can go through the hard times and still be the same person.
I want them to see that, no matter what theyre going through, they can choose joy.
That is something they can do every day.
--Mrs. Manchur, OHES Music Teacher

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