At her dance practices growing up, Molly Banzhoff would always ask the teacher to repeat difficult steps – not because she needed help, but because she saw other students were struggling to perfect them.
“She didn’t want other people to be uncomfortable,” said Barb Higgins, Molly’s mother. “It made her anxious.”
Though Molly died in May 2016, her kindness continues to permeate the Rundlett Middle School community, Chris Lane, her seventh grade science teacher, said.
To honor Molly’s legacy, Lane and Higgins came together to create the “Spirit of Molly B” award, which will be given to one student each year who embodies Molly’s kindness.
“I see reflections of the kindness that Molly had,” Lane said. “The award is intended to remind us of the value of kindness.”
One of Molly’s best friends, Keisha Johnson, received the inaugural award during a ceremony at Rundlett on Wednesday night.
“Keisha immediately came to mind,” Lane said. “She’s just a kind, kind soul, someone who sits here quietly and doesn’t say much but does powerful, powerful things.”
Keisha said she was shocked when she heard her name called at the ceremony and received the award and stood alongside Higgins on stage.
“It means a lot. I was worried that people were going to forget about her,” she said. “I guess we’re seeing the result of the award and seeing how could she be forgotten when we’re giving an award for her and remembering her spirit.”
Keisha and Molly connected through their shared love for theater and performing arts and kept up their friendship by attending Lane’s daily lunch club, where they would eat and talk together.
“Since Molly’s death, Keisha has been in a lot of plays,” Higgins said. “Watching Keisha jump out of her comfort zone … it’s been painful and beautiful to watch at the same time because I know Molly would have been right there but I know, however it works, Molly is there being Keisha’s biggest supporter and fan.”
The award is one of many ways the Rundlett community has remembered Molly.
After Molly’s death, a group of Rundlett students painted a mural in the halls of the school and created ceiling tiles commemorating their classmate.
After seeing the mural, Higgins was inspired to create the award and reached out to Lane, who had himself been mulling another way to honor Molly.
“I wanted to do something to honor her, but I don’t want to tear up wounds of the kids who are having difficulty getting through it,” he said.
Lane and Higgins said they billed the award, and its presentation, as a celebration of Molly.
“We wanted to make sure the award was a positive recognition,” Lane said. “We didn’t want to have a moment of silence or that kind of thing.”
Lane said this positivity rubbed off on the crowd as they watched Keisha receive the award.
“I feel like people left on a really upbeat note remembering her and the kind of person she was,” he said.