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DPS West
Side
Academy
student
and
teacher
reunited
after
successful
kidney
transplant
DETROIT
- To say
that
teachers
dedicate
their
lives to
ensuring
students
succeed
is an
understatement
at West
Side
Academy
(WSA).
In
December
of 2014,
WSA
Teacher
Nadirah
Muhammad
took on
the
heroic
deed of
donating
a kidney
to a
student
in need:
18-year-old
A’Ja
Booth.
On
Tuesday,
May 19,
A’Ja
returned
to West
Side
Academy
for her
first
full day
of
class,
and to
be
reunited
with
Muhammad
and her
fellow
classmates
during a
“red
carpet”
welcome-back
ceremony.
As A’Ja
and
Muhammad
walked
the red
carpet
into the
school’s
gymnasium
– the
place
where
A’Ja and
Muhammad
first
met
during a
dance
class –
A’Ja’s
classmates
cheered
her on
and
threw
confetti
into the
air.
In
addition
to
hearing
a
tear-filled
message
from
A’Ja and
Muhammad
as they
shared
their
journey
of the
successful
surgery,
speakers
for the
ceremony
also
included:
• Jason
Denny,
M.D.,
Henry
Ford
Health
System
and
Henry
Ford
Transplant
Institute
surgeon
who
performed
A’Ja’s
transplant
as part
of the
DMC
Children's
Hospital
of
Michigan
Kidney
Transplant
Program
• Andrea
Ford-Ayler,
West
Side
Academy
Principal
• Karen
Ridgeway,
Superintendent
of
Academics
for
Detroit
Public
Schools
Representing
the
district’s
model
for
alternative
schools,
West
Side
Academy
is
widely
known as
a last
bastion
of hope
for
students
disenfranchised
from
traditional
comprehensive
high
schools.
But for
A’Ja,
West
Side
Academy
offered
a second
chance
at life.
“Words
can’t
explain
how I
feel
about
what she
did and
how she
did it,”
said
A’Ja.
“I’m
very
thankful
and
blessed.
It means
a lot to
me. I
really
look at
her as a
second
mom.”
Muhammad,
a
physical
education
and
health
teacher
at West
Side
Academy,
learned
A’Ja was
in need
of a
kidney
transplant
and
immediately
offered
one of
her own.
Muhammad
met A’Ja
in her
dance
class
during
the
winter
semester
of the
2013-14
school
year.
Then in
May
2014,
she
noticed
a book
that
A’Ja had
written,
and
asked if
she
could
read it.
The book
chronicled
A’Ja’s
journey
of
having
dialysis
treatments
through
a
Healing
Journal
at
Children’s
Hospital
of
Michigan
– and
her need
of a new
kidney.
Without
a second
thought,
Muhammad
offered
to help.
A’Ja
also
shared
that
administrators
at her
previous
school,
which is
not a
Detroit
Public
School,
told her
she
would
have to
find
another
school
to
attend
because
they
couldn’t
accommodate
her for
missing
so many
days due
to the
dialysis
treatments.
“When I
came
here,
everyone
showed
me so
much
love and
support.
I’m just
thankful,”
she said
through
tears.
“I feel
wonderful,
better
than
ever.
And I’m
really
excited
to be
back in
school.”
The
procedure
for the
kidney
transplant
took
place on
December
15,
2014.
Muhammad’s
kidney
was
removed
at Henry
Ford
Medical
Center
and
A’Ja’s
procedure
was
performed
at
Children’s
Hospital
of
Michigan.
On
January
26,
2015,
Muhammad
safely
returned
to work.
“I’ve
been
told by
my
co-workers,
colleagues,
administrators
and
friends
that
what
I’ve
done is
above
and
beyond
the call
of duty.
But to
me, this
is what
teachers
in
Detroit
Public
Schools
do all
the time
for
their
students,”
said
Muhammad.
“I just
happened
to help
my
student
in this
fashion,
but I
believe
that the
teachers
throughout
DPS do
this
every
day for
their
students.
I don’t
feel
that I’m
any
different.
… We are
just one
family
here to
help our
students
succeed
in life.
And
that’s
what I’m
helping
her to
do.”
WSA
Principal
Andrea
Ford-Ayler
said
during
A’Ja’s
many
dialysis
appointments,
several
teachers
and
counselors
worked
with
A’Ja to
ensure
she made
it to
the
appointments
on time
– often
driving
her
themselves
– and
worked
around
her
schedule
to make
sure she
didn’t
miss any
pertinent
assignments.
“We
offer a
love
that
abounds
beyond
the
normal
high
school,”
said
Ford-Ayler.
“We
reach
out to
students
in a way
that no
other
school
has the
time to.
And this
is the
perfect
example
of our
phenomenal
Detroit
Public
Schools’
teachers
who will
literally
sacrifice
their
own
lives to
save the
life of
a
student.
What Ms.
Muhammad
did was
sensational,
to say
the
least,
and is a
testament
of the
extraordinary
educators
we have
across
the
district.”
A’Ja
will
graduate
on
Monday,
June 8
at 11
a.m. at
Martin
Luther
King,
Jr.
Senior
High
School
pending
completion
of
online
courses.
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