Dan Van Auken may be in Heaven, but his legacy lives on in the school district, with his family and around the community.
In the spring of 2013, Mr. Van Auken, a fifth grade math teacher at CIS, was diagnosed with brain cancer. “He received many varied treatments but by the spring of 2014, his doctors were searching for clinical trials as traditional treatments were no longer working,” explained CIS principal Joanne Gahan on the morning show with Matt and Tina.
Van Auken, 34, passed away in July of 2014.
“He had two passions. First, he loved being a teacher,” Gahan said. “His key goal as he struggled with cancer last spring, was to finish the year with his kids. He was creative and passionate and considered it his duty to make sure all of his students loved math.”
A comment heard often from CIS students each year was how they never liked math until having Mr. Van Auken.
Van Auken’s second passion was running.
“He would display all of his running numbers from marathons and 5K races in his classroom and would talk to the kids about setting goals,” Gahan said.
To honor Van Auken and to give closure to his students and the CIS staff, the empty field across the street from the school will be turned into a track/walking trail, complete with outdoor fitness stations.
“This will be used by our students and the community in general, when it is finished,” explained Gahan. “This is a costly endeavor, but Mr. Van Auken had many friends and students who loved him, so we believe we can make it happen.”
The total project cost is roughly $30,000 as the track will be paved. But Gahan said if they are nearing the end of fundraising and don’t have enough to make it a paved track, they’ll use dirt instead.
To help raise money for the planned track, students are holding a Penny War all week long. Pennies are counted as positive and silver coins are negative, in the total collection for each class. Students fill a milk jug with coins, putting silver coins in other class’s jugs to create competition for the highest total.
“The kids love this competition. And we love that they love it and there’s no prize to be won. They do it because they’re good kids,” said Gahan. As of Wednesday, the Penny War has netted $900. New this year is accepting paper bills that will count as positive numbers for the classroom jugs.
There will be additional fundraisers in the near future and donations from the community are being accepted. All donations should be made out to CIS WHYS, with Van Auken Field in the memo. More info can be found here: http://bit.ly/1aVP3cp
A benefit concert for Van Auken is scheduled for June 20-21 at Tangier in Akron. The June 20 show is sold out but tickets are still available for the June 21 show. Friends of Van Auken’s play in rock bands and are in charge of the fundraiser called Dan-Stravaganza Concert feat. Houseguest, Drummer, and The Man I Fell in Love With. To purchase tickets, click here: http://www.thetangier.com/entertainment/
So far, $10,000 has been raised for Van Auken Field.
