Teacher reflects on former student’s tragic death at North Forsyth High School
By Bethany Cates
Click here for updates on this story
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WXII) — Jeffery Saunders, a teacher at Main Street Academy, expressed his deep sorrow and concern following the tragic death of his former student Cameron Graham.
“I’m getting all these calls and video feeds of what’s going on, and I had to stop what I was doing to take it all in,” said Saunders.
Saunders said he viewed Graham as a son, someone he’d mentored, leaving him deeply affected by the incident.
“They said we need to talk to you, we need to talk to you, so I pull off to the side, and I look at the messages, and I go no way,” he said.
He emphasized that his role as a teacher extends beyond the classroom to ensure his students’ success.
“He just touched my heart, and he’ll call me. I would take his work on Friday afternoon and bring it back to school. I even graded it for him,” said Saunders, reflecting on his time with Graham.
Saunders said Cameron was one of his success stories.
“Sometimes he’ll stay at my class, if he needed to be at another class, they’ll ask Mr. Saunders can he come to your class, and I’d say send him down,” he said.
Saunders stressed the need for improvements within the community and school district.
“This shouldn’t have happened, you know, we spend money on metal detectors, but I don’t know,” said Saunders.
Saunders said if he was in the hallway during Tuesday’s deadly fight, he would’ve talked to Cameron just as he did any other time.
“I would’ve stopped him, I would have said come here talk to me, what’s going on, why are you in the hallway, where’s your hall pass? ‘” said Saunders. “Do I need to call G-MA and tell her what’s going on? It could’ve been prevented, I know it could’ve.”
But for now, he said he remains steadfast to his commitment to being there for his students, both current and former.
This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate partner and does not contain original CNN reporting.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.