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Lafayette School Corporation mourns the loss of an art teacher

 LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) – As police continue trying to figure out what happened to Kristi Redmon, students and teachers mourn the loss of an art teacher taken too soon.

Redmon primarily worked at Edgelea but she also taught art at Miami, Miller and Glen Acres elementary schools.

It’s tragic news adults can’t even come to terms with.

“You just don’t think that you’re going to see Mrs. Redmon one day, and then the next day she’s not going to come back,” said LSC Elementary Education Director Alicia Clevenger. “It is devastating for all of us right now.”

Many children at Edgelea Elementary have had Mrs. Redmon as an art teacher since Kindergarten. Edgelea Principal Karen Combs said she made a big impact on the students.

“Not only through art but the kids were telling me: she helped me with my homework, she helped me work through some problems,” said Combs. “She did a lot of other things besides just teach art – she taught kids.”

She entertained them too.

“She was known for wearing very high heeled shoes and the kids said she wore earrings as big as her head,” said Combs.

Not knowing exactly how to handle the situation, Combs did the best she could informing students about the death of one of their favorite teachers.

“I told the students, I said, ‘There are many things that adults don’t understand and today is just one of those days.’ Where I can’t give them a lot of answers because I don’t know them.”

So, she talked with them about the good times with Mrs. Redmon.

“They talked about how she could dance with them, and she could do the ‘whip and the nay nay,’ And so we laughed a little, and cried a little, and just remembered a life very short but well lived,” said Combs.

Edgelea wasn’t just a place of work for Redmon.

“She would often come in the door and say, ‘I’m home!’” said Clevenger.

And “home” won’t be a place she’s easily forgotten.

“She made such a difference in students’ lives,” said Combs. “I have no doubt that she will continue that legacy long after this. The kids love her and they will carry her in their hearts forever.”

Combs is unsure what will happen with art class in the coming days.

Students are excused from school on Friday if they need to stay home to grieve the loss of Mrs. Redmon.