A class of fourth-grade students in LaPorte ISD received a gift Wednesday to help them grieve a loss they never expected to endure.
“I just think about him a lot,” reflected Ryan Barnett, a fourth-grader at Heritage Elementary School in Deer Park.
Barnett’s teacher, Brian Fournier, suddenly passed away on April 18, leaving his students, fellow teachers, parents, and staff heartbroken.
Fournier, 56, taught at Heritage Elementary for years. His students said he had a knack for making them laugh while he taught.
“If we had an angle question on homework he’d be like go to the corner cause it’s 90 degrees. Cause it had the turning, and I loved that joke,” Barnett said.
On the afternoon of Fournier’s death, Raul Pineda, a substitute teacher in LaPorte ISD, received a text asking if he would be interested in filling in the next day.
He agreed – but didn’t know about Mr. Fournier until he showed up.
“The principal pulls me aside and says hey I have to tell you something. Do you know what you’re walking into? She said the fourth-grade teacher has passed away,” Pineda remembered.
Pineda said he took a sip of his coffee, reflected on life, and went into the classroom. He said never had he taught Fournier’s class prior to that assignment. His first interaction with the students would be the day they learned of their teacher’s death.
Pineda said counselors were in the classroom, as well, helping students think through their tears.
“I had no idea what to say to them,” Pineda said, before thinking of an analogy.
“I said hey your teacher taught science. He would want you to know about science. I said hey, do you know about bees?”
Pineda’s day job is that of beekeeping. He maintains hives at multiple locations in the Houston area and sells honey he collects through his business, A&D Bees. The profession marks a second career for him. He first worked as a high school teacher before discovering an interest in bees.
That’s how he found his way to the hive, which eventually brought him back to the classroom, occasionally working as a sub. Pineda said after thinking about the bees, he was able to teach a lesson – one that tied together Fournier’s many lessons.
“I thought about how their teacher, Mr. Fournier, has shared things with them. To me, that was the pollen. That was the nectar that he was bringing back,” Pineda said.
“I was very grateful for that,” said Kallie Norton, another of Fournier’s students.
Norton said Mr. Pineda’s analogy helped her to better understand Fournier’s loss.
“It was really hard for us because of how he made an impact on our life,” Norton continued.
Pineda taught the class for a day and returned to keeping bees. That’s where he got an idea to honor Mr. Fournier while leaving his students something by which to remember him: honey.
Pineda dedicated one of his hives to Fournier and gifted each of his students Wednesday a jar of honey from its supply.
“I just wanted to do something special for the kids,” he said.
“I won’t eat mine. I will keep it forever,” said Ryan Barnett, adding he’ll never forget Fournier.
Neither will Kallie Norton.
“Sometimes you just don’t know why stuff like that has to happen. But it’s part of life. So, it did happen,” she said.