Unstoppable: A Story of a Resilient Teacher's Fight with MS

Richard Mulhall, a former student of my Mom’s and a current Kent State University student studying magazine journalism, approached my Mom about doing a feature story on her and MS. He began working on this project in September 2012 for his Multimedia Techniques class. He thought of a number of different story ideas, but the best idea that came to his mind was a story about his 8th grade teacher, my Mom.

My Mom was Richie’s Reading teacher in 6th and 7th grade, and she was his 8th grade teacher for the 2007-2008 school year. “She taught me how to write and inspired me to follow my dreams of becoming a writer and a journalist. She was a great and funny teacher who was always willing to help her students and bring out the best in them. Through her examples of teaching and character, she inspired me to create this project and tell this story; the story of her battle with MS.”

Richie said, “when I was Mrs. Villella’s pupil, she was diagnosed with MS and struggled every day walking up and down the halls of St. Joseph School. Now she is confined to a wheelchair and is very limited in regards to mobility. Despite her everyday struggles with MS, she somehow still manages to get up every day and teach with the same enthusiasm she’s had her whole career. With that in mind, I decided to make my project a human interest story with Mrs. Villella at its center. I titled it “Unstoppable: A story of a resilient teacher’s battle with MS.”

To read this amazing story about my Mom, just click on this link http://unstoppableteacher.wordpress.com/