Student Facilitator and in-school suspension supervisor Rita Yanez died on Oct. 4, at the age of 21 from the injuries she sustained in a car accident.
Before Yanez became a member of the Free State community, she attended Turner High School and Aivala University. Former Turner High School teacher and current LHS journalism adviser Abbi Ladd said she had known and worked with Yanez for many years.
“She was one of those students who really shaped who I was as a teacher and as a person, and she taught me a lot of lessons,” Ladd said. “I got to know her for about a third of her life, and she got to know me for about a quarter of mine; I would say that that time in my life was some of the most impactful years I’ve had.”
Ladd said that, from the many conversations they shared, Yanez’s career interests had always centered around helping people and working with children. Yanez was working on becoming a health care administrator.
“She was really passionate about being around kids and helping shape people’s futures, and trying to have the same impact that I feel like a lot of her teachers have on her,” Ladd said.
Originally, Yanez was interviewed for a different position at Free State; however, Principal Amy McAnarney said that, because of her clear love of working with kids, Yanez was hired as a Student Facilitator and ISS supervisor instead.
“No matter how much students challenged her, she always remained calm and continued to try and help them,” McAnarney said. “Even though she was here just a short time, she impacted many students in the ISS room by providing a listening ear, advice and help with academics.”
Even though she had only worked at Free State for less than a semester, best friend and roommate of Yanez, Juliana Sanchez, said she could tell Yanez already cared about the position and school.
In her role as student facilitator, Yanez worked closely with the school social workers and counselors. One of whom, social worker Ray Bennett, said Yanez was always interested in talking and learning from anyone, which made it easy for her to connect with both student and staff members.
“She was very easy to talk to and she would immediately find ways to connect with anyone she was around. It was easy to build rapport with her, and she was a naturally curious and kind person,” Bennett said.
Due to their rooms being next to each other, Ted Juneau got to know Yanez well through visits she would make to his classroom, often when she didn’t have students. Juneau said she would spend her free time helping students, like with math homework or simply talking to them.
“Because we were next-door neighbors, she would come into my room and interact with my kids, and more than anything, she just brought a real positive presence. She always lit up a room,” Juneau said.
Having known Yanez since the two of them were in 6th grade and lived with her, Sanchez said she spent everyday making memories with Yanez.
“I’ll remember how you could hear her laugh from a mile away, her smile, her kindness, her humor,” Sanchez said. “There’s just a lot that comes to my mind whenever people ask me what kind of memories I’ll miss.”
On Oct. 11, Nexus Church hosted Yanez’s Celebration of Life, which was adorned in pink flowers for Yanez’s love of the color. Ladd said the celebration of life was filled with family and friends from all areas of Yanez’s life.
“Her Celebration of Life was beautiful, and the room was completely packed with all of the people who she had made an impact on, and each had so many stories and memories to share about her and the person she was,” Ladd said.
