GILROY
– The Gilroy High School teacher whose life was threatened
Friday was
”
a little shook up
”
by the events that transpired, school officials say, but she is
doing fine and is expected to return to her home economics class
today.
GILROY – The Gilroy High School teacher whose life was threatened Friday was “a little shook up” by the events that transpired, school officials say, but she is doing fine and is expected to return to her home economics class today.
Three students were arrested Friday afternoon in connection with the threatening phone call made by three 17-year-old students.
Teacher Diana Burkholder would not comment, but faculty and students heralded high praise for the veteran GHS teacher after learning she was the victim of the phone threat Friday.
“It really surprises me that she was threatened,” GHS student Amy Sanchez said. “She is a nice teacher and she understands her students well.”
Sanchez is in one of Burkholder’s foods classes. The senior said Burkholder is not the type of strict disciplinarian who may be at constant odds with a student.
“She’s not that type of teacher. She’s the opposite,” Sanchez said. “I plan to come back to school on Monday. I’m not scared.”
Speaking through Vice Principal Greg Camacho-Light, Burkholder expressed her concern for the individual who threatened to shoot and kill her.
“She said she has no reason to believe anyone would want to harm her,” Camacho-Light said. “She is concerned about this person and hopes they get help.”
According to Camacho-Light, the school looked through old referral records to see if any student may have been disgruntled with Burkholder. Camacho-Light said they found no leads.
Burkholder spent at least three years as a special education teacher at GHS before teaching home economics this year, Camacho-Light said.
“Sometime as a foods teacher you get a little different clientele, students that are a little more difficult to teach than other students,” Camacho-Light said.
Police said Burkholder made mention of one potentially disgruntled student. The young male, whose name was not released, was questioned by police and released Friday morning.
Camacho-Light said Burkholder was going to spend FridayJodi Engle 5/16/04 did she? night at a family member’s home, just to be on the safe side.
Cornia also described the general teacher-student relationship at GHS as trouble-free.
“We really haven’t had anything where a student wants to beat up or harm an administrator or teacher,” Cornia said. “We haven’t had anything close to this yet.”
GHS staff had a range of reactions to the drama Friday. After the school lockdown was released, faculty gathered to compare notes. Most declined to comment, however those who did stressed their surprise that Burkholder was the subject of the threatening call.
“What can I say? She’s just a terrific teacher who cares about kids,” teacher aide Irene Day said. “She puts in a lot of effort to really understand her students.”
“I’m shocked,” said Mae Padilla, a school bus driver for the school district. “I see no reason why someone would be out to get her. She’s such a mellow teacher.”
