The late Heller with his family; Career Friday dedicated its gym in his honor.
“They hate me over there. I’m their worst patient ever. I’d say, ‘I don’t care if you’re not done. I am. I’ve got to get back to school! I have my responsibilities.’”
Thus Jonathan Heller once described handling chemotherapy treatments while teaching business and coaching volleyball at Career High School — a later-in-life second career that became a mission.
His colleague Rosa Ayala shared that memory of him Friday afternoon at a ceremony dedicating Career’s gymnasium in Heller’s memory.
Outside the door of the gymnasium where Heller coached the varsity girls team, several dozen students and their families wore purple #Heller Strong T‑shirts.
Heller, a businessman who shifted to teaching at age 40, worked at the school for five years. He died in 2016 after a battle with colon cancer.
Azhaleia Reyes, whom Heller coached for two years and also introduced to marketing and other business courses, organized Friday’s event — dubbed a “Hellerbration” — as her senior project.
Allan Appel Photo
She lined up permissions from the Board of Education, secured the participation of Heller’s wife Cheryl and daughter Gracie, and mounted volleyball games, a bake sale, and fundraising events.
“He went to chemo and then came right over to practice. That’s where you saw his passion,” Reyes recalled at the ceremony. Last year, under Heller’s guidance, the team chalked up seven wins in its season, the best yet.
“The volleyball season ended Oct. 29, and he died Nov. 16 a year ago. That should tell you something,” Reyes said.
Reyes flanked by Cheryl and Gracie Heller.
Heller’s wife Cheryl said that at age 40, after years working in various retail businesses — he had most recently managed a group of Innovation Luggage stores — Heller “wanted to pursue a different path.”
Enrolling in a master’s education program at Albertus Magnus College, Heller went to work at Career. He introduced marketing courses, and was a force behind the students’ projects in entrepreneurial competitions.
“He had all this life experience, business marketing” that he wanted to share with the kids, Cheryl Heller recalled.
Heller.
Of course, then there was volleyball. She said Heller had played on his high school team on Long Island. He started coaching Career’s team to earn some extra money. That gig quickly became one of the focal points of Heller’s life as a teacher and coach.
“He was an amazing person. Super dedicated. At Saturday practice, he was the first in the gym, and a great mentor,” recalled Ayala, who is now a math teacher in Norwalk.
Now that gym is named after him.
Heller “touched her in a way we hope all our teachers would,’ interim schools Superintendent Reggie Mayo said at Friday’s event.
Reyes flanked by Mayo and Career High Principal Zakia Parrish.
Teachers and coaches are some of the best supports in a child's life. They have a ton of influence! I still remember my coaches. They were all great human beings. May this man RIP and may God comfort his wife and daughter!