Last Updated on: 25th October 2022, 09:13 am
Who is Jean Kuczka? Biography, Wiki
Jean Kuczka has been identified as the victim who was shot dead at the Central College of Fine and Performing Arts on Monday. She was a physical education teacher at South St. Louis School.
Kuczka, from Jefferson County, had taught at the school since 2008, according to her school biography.
Jean Kuczka Age
Her current age was 61 years.
South St. Louis School Shooting
A gunman entered Kuczka’s classroom, Room 323, and Kuczka stepped forward to protect the students, his daughter was told. It wasn’t immediately clear why the shooter had gone to his room, or if he was targeting a specific teacher.
Alexandria Bell, 16, was also killed in the shooting spree before police stormed the school at 3125 South Kingshighway, killing the gunman, who police identified Monday night as Orlando Harris, 19, a senior high school graduate.
“My mother loved children,” said her daughter Abigail Kuczka. “She loved her students. I know her students looked at her as if she were their mother.”
Tributes Paid in Honor of The Teacher Jean Kuczka
Former students and colleagues remembered Kuczka as a committed teacher.
In a tweet, St. Louis Public Schools employee Glenn Barnes called Kuczka “an amazing educator” who has made a difference in her community.
“It’s a huge loss,” said Barnes.
Jean Kuczka Education And Career
Jean Kuczka graduated from Lindbergh High School in 1979. She attended Southwest Missouri State University, now Missouri State, on a field hockey scholarship and was a member of the 1979 national championship team.
She taught physical education at Seven Holy Founders in South St. Louis County for 16 years. She then taught physical education at Carr Lane College in the St. Louis public school system and later transferred to Central Visual and Performing Arts in 2008. The school’s website states that she taught health, personal finance, and physical education.
Kuczka recently began cross-country training at Collegiate, an SLPS magnet school that shares a campus with CVPA.