On Tuesday, August 30^th, Mrs. Halsall failed to appear in her Biology classroom. Other teachers in the science hallway took note of the odd occurrence, knowing that Mrs. Halsall has a tendency to show up early. Just before 1^st Bell, Mr. Halsall called Dr. Renner and informed him of some startling news:  Mrs. Halsall had suffered a stroke.

The remainder of the morning was chaotic. Neal Stehling, a junior in Mrs. Halsall’s 1^st Bell AP Bio class, was one of the first students to learn of her stroke.

“At first there was a bunch of confusion with different teachers coming into class. Then, at the beginning of the bell, Mrs. Dierker told us about Mrs. Halsall. We were shocked and everyone was at a loss for words,” said Stehling.

“It’s hard coming into someone else’s classroom, but the other science teachers helped me find things around the room and on Mrs. Halsall’s computer,” said McNeal.

Both she and Dr. Renner have expressed confidence that her background in Biology, along with help from the other science teachers, will allow her to continue moving Mrs. Halsall’s classes ahead.

“At this point I’m just sticking to her curriculum,” said McNeal.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Halsall is recovering at home. The stroke chiefly affected the speech center of her brain; initially, she was only able to answer questions with “yes” or “no.” However, Dr. Renner, who has stayed in contact with her, noted the vigor with which she is working to be able to return to school.

“She misses her students and she’s very determined to get back. She works every day with a speech therapist,” said Renner.

This effort has certainly paid off.   In a phone interview with Mrs. Halsall, she was speaking extremely well. She talks in a slow, thoughtful manner, with sporadic stutters after long periods of conversation.

“I’m speaking fine, with occasional lapses. Sometimes I have trouble with a word. Everything’s in there, I just can’t always get it out. Things go in, but they may not come out the same, and sometimes it’s very strange to see what comes out,” she remarks, with a note of humor.

“When a word won’t come out, it’s like I’m back in first grade trying to learn something totally new,” she says.

The biggest challenges facing Mrs. Halsall’s return are her writing and the occasional lapse in speech.

“The writing is bad, but I’m working with my therapist. It won’t be good if I give a student their graded lab and my comments are totally garbled, or if I can’t get a word out in the middle of class. That takes too much time away from the learning,” she says.

For now, MHS will have to wait patiently for the return of the resident Biology expert. However, Mrs. Halsall is working energetically to make that wait as short as possible.

“I’m trying to get back. I’d love to be there right now,” she states.