Middle school honors boy who ‘always had a smile’

A new purple skateboard rack at the entrance to Mead Middle School may keep students from going through what Devon Cooley did nearly every morning.

“Every day he would try to cram that skateboard in his locker,” said Beth Olson, a language arts teacher at Mead. “And he was one of those kids who had a lot of stuff in his locker.”

The skateboard rarely fit, she said, so Devon would store the skateboard in a teacher’s room and retrieve it at the end of the day.

On Tuesday at Mead in south Wichita, students and staff members dedicated a new skateboard rack for Devon, the 11-year-old boy who drowned earlier this summer after being swept away by fast-moving water at Gypsum Creek caused by heavy rains.

Devon would have been a seventh-grader at Mead this fall.

“He always had a smile,” said Olson, who had Devon in her class for language arts and reading intervention last school year.

“He was just very accepting of others and their differences. And it didn’t matter – if they were the odd duck, all the better,” she said.

“That’s who he went to. He would try and find that kid who wasn’t fitting in and be friends with them.”

The school raised more than $2,800 in just a few days through a GoFundMe page and donations from area families and businesses.

The funds paid for a new locking skateboard rack at the entrance, painted bright purple because Devon was a member of the “Powerful Purple Pumas” team at Mead.

A plaque in front bears Devon’s name and a quote from author Tom Hannah: “Tolerance and celebration of individual differences is the fire that fuels lasting love.”

Briana Falvey, another language arts teacher, said Devon will be remembered for his curiosity, kindness and unique style. So the bright purple skateboard rack seemed a fitting memorial.

“I just feel like the world is filled with so much hatred, and he had the ability to look past that,” Falvey said.

“He had friends in every different group. He looked past color and gender or an inexpensive pair of shoes. He saw people for who they were.”

This story was originally published August 23, 2016 at 7:59 PM with the headline "Middle school honors boy who ‘always had a smile’."