Students help lift up Pasadena teacher who lost home in Eaton Fire
Karen Cabot has been teaching in Pasadena for decades. Cabot not only lost her home in the Eaton Fire, but also hundreds of cards and memories from old students.
Students help lift up Pasadena teacher who lost home in Eaton Fire
After Pasadena teacher Karen Cabot lost her home in the Eaton Fire, current and past students she taught over 30 years started sending her well wishes and began a GoFundMe for her.
SOUTH PASADENA, Calif. - Karen Cabot teaches third grade at Arroyo Vista Elementary in South Pasadena. She's been teaching for decades, and absolutely loves her students.
"I don't have any children of my own," said Cabot. "So every year when I get my new batch of students, I almost feel like I have 24 new kids of my own."
She's kept all the cards — thousands that her students have made for her over the past 30 years. But on Jan. 8, everything turned to ash. Cabot lost her home to the Eaton Fire.
Devastation after the wildfire.
(FOX 11 / FOX 11)
"Having a fire destroy a whole community is not supposed to happen," Cabot said. "So it's just a whole other level of grief."
Cards, pictures of students, Christmas tree ornaments, were all destroyed by the flames.
Box of cards.
(FOX 11 / FOX 11)
"That's the stuff that matters," Cabot said. "Nothing else matters. It's the love, and it's the memories that make up our lives."
Cabot is just one of an estimated 130 school staff throughout Altadena who lost their homes in the Eaton Fire.
WATCH: 525-POUND BEAR LURED OUT OF CALIFORNIA HOME THREATENED BY EATON FIRE
Panda Korman, whose son Cody is in her class, has been sending Cabot a video every day of new cards her students have been making for her while she gets reestablished after the fire.
Card for Cabot.
(FOX 11 / FOX 11)
"She represents so many teachers and so many educators in the school system that have lost," Korman said. "…So I am all in for her and so happy to do things for her, because I feel like teachers are like angels on Earth."
And it's not just Cabot's current students who are sending her well wishes. She has also received letters from students she taught decades ago.
Cabot's students have nothing but wonderful things to say about her.
"I feel like if I had a choice to replace her with me, I'd do it straight away," said one student.
"She would want to be the last one, if the building was on fire, to keep us all safe," said another.
Hugs for Cabot.
(FOX 11)
Reading the new notes from her students, Cabot couldn't help but shed a few tears. "The kids are going to help remind me about what's important," Cabot said. "Love and support."
"What else is there? What else is there in life than to help people," Cabot asked. "And that's all I want to do is help people. And then when you just realize that I helped a kid, or I made a difference in a kid's life, from their point of view, it's like okay, I'm here for a reason."
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help Cabot recover. Information on that fundraiser can be found by tapping or clicking here.
The community has also gathered a list of teachers affected by the fires who are in need. That information can be found by tapping or clicking here.