Middle School Teacher Dies

Saturday, April 27, 2013

ROGERS — Chad Wolff, a teacher at Birch Kirksey Middle School, died Friday.

Wolff taught special education at the school, according to the Rogers School District website.

According to Keith Kilgore, Heritage High School’s baseball coach, Wolff was going to have surgery on his knee. Kilgore said the knee was going to be “scoped,” and called it a routine procedure at a local hospital.

Wolff served as a volunteer assistant coach for the Heritage baseball team for the 2010 and 2011 seasons. Kilgore told the team of Wolff’s death Friday afternoon during a team meeting. Kilgore said he decided to cancel practice and “just spent an hour or so together as a team.”

“I wanted them to hear it from me. Several players on this team had a great relationship with Chad Wolff. We talked through it and that’s what we did as a club today.”

The district provided extra counselors at Kirksey on Friday after officials learned of Wolff’s death, said Ashley Kelley Siwiec, communication director. Counselors will continue to be available for students who need them, she said.

“It’s been a really hard day for everybody,” Siwiec said.

“The thing that stands out, what I’ll remember about Chad Wolff is he was a credit to the teaching profession. He had a passion — I can’t stress that word enough — to share his knowledge in the classroom and on the field,” Kilgore said.

“Through those experiences, he impacted the lives of many — several past and current players at Heritage. Today, we lost a great example of what a person should be in this world,” Kilgore said.