The city of Madeira suffered a profound loss this week with the sudden death of the principal of Madeira Elementary School, Chris Flanagan. I have struggled all week with discussing it, explaining his death to my children and dealing with a loss I have never experienced – that of a phenomenal educator.
My father died when he was slightly younger than Chris, and my siblings and I were all about the same ages as his children. My mother, around the same age as his wife. My heart bleeds for their loss. This will have a lasting impact on them, a forever impact. The pain will eventually subside, and the silver lining will appear: their husband and father forever touched the lives of an entire community, the community where they reside.
For those not from our area, Madeira is small. We have our own school district, second to none. We have one elementary school, one middle school and one high school. Our children are together from start to finish. We play sports, participate in plays and musicals and concerts. We socialize together. Every child in our school system passes through our elementary school, and for the past seven years, the head of that school has been Chris Flanagan.
A connection with students
Parents spend hours at the elementary school – parties, plays, musicals, class helper, mystery reader, field days, the school fall festival. The list is endless, and present through all of it was Mr. Flanagan.
The children loved him. He had a way of connecting with all of them, even those who struggled, as my older son did at times. He knew what battles to fight when it came to issues kids encounter, bullying, running off, cursing. He knew when he should reach out to the parent, and when it was just a kid doing kid stuff.
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I recall a phone call I received from him when I was in court one morning. The phone popped up with the name “Madeira Elementary School.” I stepped away from the bench, took the call and heard Chris say, “Hi Leslie.” My response was, “What happened?” He immediately assured me it was nothing, but he had talked to my son in his office on a matter my son witnessed, and Chris didn’t want him coming home and saying he was in the principal’s office, and me having no answers. I cannot imagine the countless phone calls he made to parents like that. In spite of a busy schedule, he took the time to engage in children’s lives. Every. Day.
Flanagan! Flanagan! Flanagan!
The kids weren’t just assigned to the teachers, they were assigned to him too. And they adored him for it. They absorbed his energy and would smile ear to ear when he interacted with them. “Flanagan! Flanagan! Flanagan!” they’d cheer when he’d throw water balloons off the roof of the school during field days.
They sat in awe in front of him as he read out the winners of raffle baskets during the fall festival. They got so excited to see him outside of school at a game, or the grocery store, or at a play. His energy was infectious. I could spend pages recounting the stories every single parent in the school district has about how he touched their child’s life.
What I know is this – Madeira struck gold with Chris Flanagan. We won the Super Bowl, the World Series and hit the lottery, all in one statement from the school board to him: you’re hired.
Chris, thank you for teaching me what an educator should look like. Thank you for devoting your life to changing the lives of children. Thank you for taking such good care of our children. There are not enough flowers in heaven to express my gratitude and the gratitude of your heartbroken community. You were simply magical.
Leslie Ghiz is a judge in the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas and a Madeira resident.
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