Students are rallying with their own special tribute to popular guidance counsellor
Sep 14, 2008 - 07:08 AM
Joanne Burghardt
OSHAWA -- An outpouring of fond memories is flooding the social networking website Facebook as news spreads of the death of Stan Kolesnik, a popular high school guidance counsellor in Oshawa.
The well-liked educator died Thursday at Lakeridge Health Oshawa following a short battle with cancer. He was 63.
A proud family man and involved member of the Rotary Club, Mr. Kolesnik had been an educator for 41 years and is fondly remembered by students across the Durham District School Board.
Students at his most recent school, Eastdale Collegiate in Oshawa, have formed a community of nearly 1,000 people on Facebook. They are sharing their memories and planning their own special tribute to be held Monday.
"He told me and he told others that we had gifts -- but he was the most gifted of us all," Paul Hoffman wrote.
"He had a heart of gold and will be missed," wrote Jacynthe. "The world was a better place for having known him. We should all take the same care in the people around us as he did."
Former student Jacob Patte wrote, "This was one of the most unselfish, big-hearted men I ever will know! His gift was helping students, and I believe he never retired because he didn't know any other way to live. I feel blessed to have had his guidance and influence in my life more than he could have ever known. RIP, Mr. Kolesnik, knowing that you have impacted countless numbers of lost teenage souls in your days as an educator."
"Mr. K was the most amazing person at Eastdale," Sarah Davidson said in her Facebook tribute. "He was there for everyone, whether or not he was their counsellor. Anyone who needed help with anything under the sun could turn to him and he would not give up until a solution had been found. He put his heart and soul into his job and for that I give him the most respect anyone could ever gain."
The students are planning to hold a tribute to Mr. Kolesnik Monday from 12:30 to 3 p.m. at Eastdale Collegiate, 265 Harmony Rd. N. in Oshawa. Students are being asked to bring a small bouquet of flowers to the school, where they will be placed in front of the guidance department. Memorial donations to the R.S. McLaughlin Cancer Centre are also being encouraged.
Given the number of people who have expressed their intentions to attend the memorial services, the school board decided Friday to close the school temporarily Monday morning. Classes will resume at 12:30 p.m. to 2:35 p.m. for four, half-hour classes.
"I cannot think of anyone (who) put others first more than Stan," Scott Legree said in a tribute on the Armstrong Funeral Home web site. "The world needs more people like Stan, people who make it their mission to contribute to the community more than they could ever take away from it. He mentioned retiring every year I knew him, but he could not pass on the opportunity to positively affect another incoming group of Grade 9s each year. His unselfish dedication to all generations of Eagles is truly admirable. I say without hesitation that he was the staff member who had the greatest positive impact on my high school years."
Visitation will be today, Sept. 14, from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at Armstrong Funeral Home, 124 King St. E. in Oshawa. A funeral mass will be held Monday at 10:30 a.m. at St. Gregory the Great Catholic church on Simcoe Street at Adelaide Avenue in Oshawa.
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