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3.20.2003
Abbie Hoisington, 28, 'expected the best' for pupils
Abbie L. Hoisington's students say it the best.
"She taught us about honesty, confidence, kindness and respect for
one another and ourselves," said one.
"She cared about us and expected the best for us and never gave
up on us," said another.
Ms. Hoisington, 28, of Cranston, was a special-education teacher at Burrillville
High School. Though she had been there less than a year, the talkative
teacher -- affectionately known as Gabby Abbie -- had made many friends.
Abbie's interest in special education began in high school when her teachers
encouraged her to get involved with the Special Education Club, her family
said. Soon after, she volunteered to work with the Special Olympics. Then
she majored in special education at the University of Southern Connecticut.
But she didn't teach just academics. She taught life skills. Abbie took
her students grocery shopping and gave them cooking lessons. She took
them bowling, and sailing on her parents' boat. She and her students made
soap and sold it to help raise money for classroom accessories, including
a refrigerator they had hoped to buy.
She was a constant advocate for her students.
"She was a pit bull for something she believed in," said her
mother, Bonnie A. Hoisington, of Cranston.
Abbie wasn't a fan of Great White, the band playing at The Station the
night of the fire. She went because her friend, Lisa D'Andrea, a special
education teacher in Cranston, asked her to come, Mrs. Hoisington said.
Lisa D'Andrea, 42, of Barrington, also died in the fire.
Abbie loved music and stepdancing. She collected everything: clothes,
CDs, perfumes, and for some reason, pigs. Her family left a porcelain
pig at the fire site in memory of her.
But mostly, she lived for her students, her mother said.
One of her former pupils, Samuel "Sammy" F. Muskelly, 18, sang
at her funeral.
Sammy said Ms. Hoisington put up with his 13-year-old bad attitude and
always kept him motivated when he was in her class at Hope Middle School
in Providence. When he invited her to his plays or talent shows, she would
always attend.
"All the high notes that I can't hit, I was hitting them because
she came out there for me," he said.
Sammy still knows her telephone number by heart.
"She was like E.F. Hutton to me. When she talked, I listened,"
he said. "I knew what she was telling me was the right way."
-- Cathleen Crowley
3.4.2003 -- Mark
Patinkin: A brother remembers Abbie Lea
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