Teacher forced to retire as crippling disease takes its toll | Community Spirit

A rare disease is forcing a long-time, popular teacher to retire.

He grew up going to school in Issaquah, and then taught there for more than two decades.

In those 23 years, Steve Birdsall taught hundreds of students. He remembers nearly all of them.

The Maple Hills Elementary school fifth grade teacher has a sharp memory, even as a rare disease robs him of his ability to walk and talk.

"They have no idea why he got it," said his wife, PE teacher Polly Vaughn. "There's no genetic link. No reasoning."

And no mercy.

It's called Multiple Systems Atrophy.

MSA is a fatal disease with no cure.

"The illness affects my emotions too," Birdsall said. "I cry at commercials, I don't know why," he said as he burst into tears.

Since he has little control over showing his emotions, we can't tell you his story without feeling at times like we're invading very private moments.

Even when the question is "why do you love to teach?"

"I love the fact that I see light bulbs go on," he said, but then it was too hard to elaborate.

Because he's so ill, this will be Mr. Birdsall's last year in the classroom. Former students - even from decades ago - are now rallying around him.

"Every person that comes back says he's the best teacher they've ever had," said Vaughn. "They come back from high school saying you were really hard on me. And I made it through Maywood."

Maywood is the middle school that takes kids from Maple Hills.

Mr. Birdsall agrees, he is hard on the kids.

Leaving them is even harder.

"I'm a pretty calm person in general. And I never have said, 'why me?' Never."

And that will be his legacy in teaching.

It's never been about himself. It was all about the students.

Some staff at Maple Hills are organizing a benefit for Steve, Polly and their two children. They're hoping plenty of former students will attend. It's on Saturday, April 24th. For more information, go to www.birdsallfamilytrust.org.

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Watch KOMO 4 News tonight at 5 p.m. to see Molly's interview with Steve.