Edwards, 59, died Tuesday night from complications related to pancreatic cancer. His death came just a month after the Temple school district board renamed the former Temple High South or Temple High Accelerated Academy in his honor.
“I didn’t want to cry at the beginning of the year when I saw him - he wasn’t the Mr. Edwards everyone knew in the past, you could tell something was wrong,” said Jessica Saunders, 17, a senior at Fred W. Edwards Accelerated Academy. “I went home and cried.”
Edwards taught within the Temple school district for more than 30 years. His coworkers described him as a renaissance man because of his ability to teach multiple subjects and work with at-risk students. Edwards was certified to teach social studies, English and math, and taught at various campuses in the district.
Miss Saunders, who is taking courses at the academy so she can graduate early, had been in Edwards’ class last year. When Edwards became so ill that he became a hospital patient, she visited him.
“He was very mellow and laid back,” Miss Saunders said. “He loved doing things at his desk - that’s what I’ll remember the most about him. After he walked around class, he would always end up back at his desk reading notes, or grading papers. You could always walk up to him and ask him a question.”
He really cared about his students, she said.
“When you think about him being sick and coming back to work, you have to think to yourself that he cared more about his students then he did about himself,” she said.
“I learned a lot from Mr. Edwards,” said teacher Angela Mowery, who has worked at the academy for the last two years. “I came over after teaching seventh grade. It was hard for me - we’re expected to wear different hats and teach different subjects here.”
Edwards Academy serves a small population of at-risk students who elect to attend the school because they’re having trouble attending Temple High School or who want to graduate early.
“There are only four teachers on this campus, so we all help each other out,” Mowery said. “He was like a family member.”
Alvin Smith, who taught with Edwards for more than six years, said Edwards had a tremendous work ethic.
“His entire professional career was with TISD,” said Smith, who described Edwards as a devout Catholic. “He told me his ministry was also with the school.”
Smith said Edwards collapsed in 2004 after having a brain aneurysm, and after going through brain surgery and a tumor removal, he came back to work. “He was a real fighter,” Smith said. “To me he’s one of the finest examples of a person our culture has offered.
“In the classroom, he was the professor type. He was very relaxed and helpful,” Smith said.
Last year there were several problems at the academy, as several employees filed grievances with the district, saying the school was overcrowded and crime was becoming an issue. One grievance claimed enrollment was about 180 students and “the facilities cannot support this population,” and that in some classes there was a 60-to-1 student to teacher ratio.
Miss Saunders said she believes a number of the students who disrespected Edwards last year because of the issues the school was having felt bad when he visited campus a few weeks ago from the hospital.
“Sometimes (the students) really treated him bad,” Miss Saunders said. “I think when he visited, though, and they found out he had cancer, they realized some of the mistakes they made - and they were sad.”
Miss Saunders and other employees at the campus said they were glad Edwards could teach for two weeks and visit the campus before his death so he could see the changes made at the school.
This year, things are quite different. The school got a facelift in August when it was spruced up with new paint and flooring. New computers and applications were purchased, and a new principal and counselor were brought in.
“I remember when I told him they were naming the campus after him, he said ‘no, no, no,’” Smith said. “He was just the humble type. He didn’t seek recognition.”
Smith said when Edwards visited campus from the hospital, he shed a few tears when he arrived but quickly began talking to the students and sharing stories. “That’s who he was. He was always interested in helping people,” he said.
Arrangements are pending for Edwards, but services are expected to be held next week.
dfearson@temple-telegram.com
