JEFFERSON COUNTY, Ill. (WSIL) -- Emotion and disbelief was in attendance at McClellan School just days after a former teacher's untimely death.
Twenty-five year old Shelby Mitchell resigned last week after taking up a new teaching position at JL Buford school.
But in less than a week, co-workers went from celebrating Mitchell's accomplishment to celebrating her life.
"So many students are not going to get the chance to experience her," Tiffany Delany, a 7th & 8th grade teacher, said. "She had so much to offer."
Mitchell, a 5th & 6th grade teacher, approached life with a 'glass-half-full' approach Delaney said. But when it came to her students, Mitchell always put forth a full effort, sometimes more.
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"She'd still be here until 6pm or 7pm," Delaney said. "She worked on weekends. She was doing everything she could to make this a good learning environment for her kids."
A graduate of Woodlawn High School, Mitchell returned home from college to teach at Woodlawn Grade School. Kindergarten teacher Laura Kapp says Mitchell had a magnetic personality, especially with her students.
"If a child came in sad or upset, she was one of the first people to run up to them even if she didn't know them," Kapp said.
Former McClellan Schools Superintendent Terry Milts met Mitchell during her first year of teaching. Shocked over Mitchell's death, Milts plans to attend her funeral when services are announced.
"She was so excited about the opportunity to teach," Milts said. "You could see the passion and the love that she had for her students."
Mitchell died after her vehicle was caught in floodwaters early Saturday morning, according to Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Bullard. It happened on Panzier Road near Rayse Creek about a quarter mile south of Illinois Route 15.
Looking south on Panzier Road just south of Illinois Route 15 in Jefferson County
Bullard says the family received a call from Mitchell around 2:15 a.m. saying she was in trouble and afraid. Mitchell's phone signal went out shortly after, Bullard said. At around 2:30 a.m. family notified the sheriff's office, triggering help from numerous agencies.
However, the weather made it difficult and dangerous for divers to search. Eventually, first responders changed shifted their focus from a rescue to a recovery operation.
"The water was not safe enough... to risk the divers in an attempt at a recovery of someone who might be deceased in the car," Bullard said. "We wish things could've been different."
Makeshift cross honoring 25-year old Shelby Mitchell
Crews recovered Mitchell's body around 8 a.m. Sunday but her car remains stuck in the creek. Mitchell's official cause of death is accidental drowning.
From celebrations to sadness, its been a rollercoaster week for McClellan School employees. But Delaney sees it differently, just like Mitchell would've.
"We have to take what she taught us and move forward with it," Delaney said.
"She will always be here."
AÂ to help pay for funeral and memorial expenses.
