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Gretchen Stephan was born and raised in
Rochester, New York,
the second youngest of five children of Dr. Bill and Joanne. Gretchen
attended St. Michael’s College, in
Burlington,
VT, and graduated in 1989. That
fall she began her teaching career in the West Irondequoit School
District, just outside
Rochester, teaching 3rd, 4th
, 5th and 6th grades at a number of schools
in the district. During this time she also earned her Masters in
Education from Nazareth
College and her
Certificate in Administration from SUNY Brockport. Gretchen served as
Assistant Principal for two years before returning to her true passion,
the classroom, as a 4th grade teacher.
After 12 years of teaching, administration
and countless “additional assignments”, including summer
tutoring, Gretchen and her sidekick, Jake, (a yellow Labrador)
took on their biggest professional challenge as she decided to
relocate to
Atlanta
in the summer of 2001 and further pursue her desire to make a difference
in the lives of young people. Gretchen continued teaching
and mentoring countless children of all ages and backgrounds, most
recently at Morningside
Elementary School in Atlanta.
In the summer of 2006, Gretchen was
diagnosed with Primary Pulmonary Hypertension (PPH), a lung
disease for which there is no known cause or cure. In October
of 2007, Gretchen passed away while waiting for a lung transplant. Gretchen was 39 years
old.
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