MANSFIELD — The Mansfield School Board meeting was more like a memorial service on Tuesday night.
Poems, songs and memories were shared in honor of Maxine Johnson, who died Jan. 4.
“Maxine was the most kind, compassionate, caring person I think I’d ever met,” Malabar Intermediate Principal Andrea Moyer said. “I never heard her say an unkind word about anyone. It was a real pleasure to work with her.”
The meeting was held at Malabar Intermediate School, where she served as a library media paraprofessional for 6 1/2 years.
More than 50 members of Johnson’s family, peers and students attended the meeting to celebrate her life and 32 years of service in the school district.
The Malabar Intermediate Library was renamed the Maxine Johnson Library. A plaque was hung near the double doors of the library.
“One thing that amazed me about working with her, was that she had the ability to read people,” Moyer said. “One example is when some of my students got upset, I could take any child to the library, and eventually Maxine would be having a conversation with the student that had nothing to do with why they were in there. Pretty soon the child would be able to go back to class.
“That is a true gift.”
Johnson had an impact on nearly every student and staff member she encountered.
“I remember students would come up to me and say, ‘Mr. Hager, after lunch, can we go see Ms. Johnson?’ and every day I could say, ‘Absolutely,'” said Tom Hager, assistant principal at Malabar. “They would talk and she would give them a job and they would talk it out and they would go back to class.
“I could always count on that.”
