Parents at Alma Public School are remembering the life of teacher Robert Bachuk.
The 48-year-old died on Wednesday after his SUV collided with a school bus near the village of Alma.
He leaves behind a wife and two children.
Crystal Schnarr, whose five kids have all been Bachuk’s students at some point in their lives, said he is going to be deeply missed.
“I just couldn’t believe it at first actually,” Schnarr said. “It’s a big, big pair of shoes to have to fill and it’s never going to be enough. And our kids are going to know that too.”
According to to GoFundMe page set up to support the family, Bachuk was returning home from school when the crash happened.
The page has already reached its goal, collecting 103 donations, as of 5 pm Monday.
Some contributors have posted stories about how “Mr. B” impacted their lives. Words like hero, artist, tree-hugger, teacher and friend have been used to describe him.
Other online messages called him the teacher that students remember for a lifetime.
“Whether you are a JK student who just started school with us or you’re someone who graduated four years ago, he was somebody that had such an impact on the kids here,” Amanda Reid, president of the Alma Parent Council told CTV Kitchener . “Whether it was a ‘good morning little buddy’ or a special club that he ran in the school that they had a connection within.”
Schnarr said her kids never came home and said they had a bad day with Bachuk as their teacher.
“Honestly, if they were having a hard day, I made sure they had a good day and wanted to come back the next day,” she said.
Schnarr said Bachuk made every student feel important.
“He would sort of prep the kids before they were even in this class and got them excited about being in his class. My older kids would always tell my younger kids what Mr. B would do and they were really stoked to be in his class. ” Schnarr said. “He made sure every kid was valued, he made sure every kid was heard. He cared about, you know, if you were in the back field with dad stacking wood, he cared about if you had a hockey tournament that you won.”
Bachuk was typically a Grade 4/5 teacher. Schnarr said her youngest child is currently in her class.
“She’s kind of worried about what things are going to look like now,” Schnarr said. “And the other kids just keep remembering things that he did and who he was.”
According to OPP, information about the cause of the crash won’t be available until police finish their investigation, including reconstructing the scene.
A celebration of Bachuk’s life is set for Sunday at the Fergus Sportsplex.
“As a parent at the school, I walk home with a couple of kids in his grade,” Reid said. “And one of them said the other day that Mr. B made school the best he’s ever had in all of his life, and now he’s gone and that’s going to be hard on that class.”