Dearest colleagues and friends,
I send you this newsletter today with some terrible news. Amy Haney, my best friend and business partner, passed away from complications of her life long disease, Muscular Dystrophy. Amy's death is a loss to not only me, her friends and family, but also to her students and the Spanish teacher community.
Throughout our 30 years of friendship, I got to see Amy through a variety of lenses. First, she was my teacher, then I became her student teacher and finally her friend and business partner. Amy taught me compassion and made me strive for excellence. Amy never asked anyone to do something that she was not willing to do herself. But the most important part of Amy’s teaching and life is that she never gave up. She did not quit. Amy was a force.
Spark Enthusiasm, the company that Amy and I created in 2008, is at an extreme loss of how to move on. However, I know that it has to continue. The work that Amy and I started will go on. In her honor, I will continue what we started.
For now, I thank many of you for reaching out and ask for continued love and prayers. I have included a few links that demonstrate Amy's life, vision and teaching.