Rev. Theodore N. Brown, was a family outreach counselor at the alternative Springfield High School. He was a vibrant personality that insisted that his co-workers take care of themselves as much as they took care of their students. At one point he passed out Avon face cream to help keep those faces fresh.

Brown was a stickler for rules and insisted that students follow school rules to the letter. One student would push Brown’s tolerance by breaking dress code and wearing the hood of his sweatshirt every day. Brown had insisted that the student remove the hood multiple times on multiple days. On December 5, 2001 the 17 year old student turned and began stabbing. Brown was stabbed seven times in the chest and stomach and once in his right hand and stopped breathing before emergency personnel arrived at the school.

On the day Brown died, a high-tech metal detector that might have halted a knife-carrying student in his tracks was unused, locked away with others behind closed doors. Further while police patrolled schools, no officer was present at the time of the crime and it was revealed that no officer was permanently assigned to any school. Many of these safety measures were implemented because of Brown’s death leaving the schools, students, and staff in safer circumstances.

To help honor Rev. Theodore Brown