Charlestown High School students step up as teacher battles breast cancer
By Norman Seawright
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CHARLESTOWN, Indiana (WLKY) — When Melissa Stewart, the Radio/TV teacher at Charlestown High School, had to step away for cancer treatment, her students rose to the occasion to ensure WPMQ, the school’s station, continued to operate smoothly in her absence.
Melissa Stewart completed chemotherapy in November.
“They don’t tell you a lot of things about cancer that in treatments that you go through that are really, really rough,” she said.
Stewart’s greatest concern was being away from her students.
“I was stressing about ‘oh my gosh, we’ve got to get this or that done. I’m going to miss Monday because I have chemo again and then I’m probably going to miss Thursday because I have another doctor’s appointment,” she said.
The classes at Charlestown High School provide real-world experience in content creation, sports broadcasting, and programming commercials. Seniors, including Stewart’s daughter Aiden, took charge to keep the station running.
“She has been through a lot with, you know, watching me go through this at home and then coming to school with a smile on her face and leading the troops,” Stewart said proudly.
Aiden said the community built in the program helped her cope.
“It was really big for me to learn that it’s okay to lean on other people and to communicate that some days aren’t as good as others,” Aiden said.
Another senior, Jared Taylor, wanted younger students to have the kind of guidance Stewart gave him.
“Being able to lean them into like a better role and being able to have somebody to carry this program on once we’re gone is probably most important,” Taylor said.
Melissa Stewart praised her students’ leadership and collaboration. “They’ve impressed me with how much they took the leadership and how much they took off my plate,” Stewart said.
“We all knew what we had to do,” Aiden said. “We kept working together and we never, like, let one person do it on their own.”
Now back in the classroom, Stewart continues her treatment while the student broadcast team operates with remarkable independence.
“They knew that I was going through what I was going through, and they didn’t want me to have to worry about them,” Stewart said.
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