She’s got cancer, but cancer doesn’t have her

Longtime Tracy Area High School paraprofessional Karen Ziemke will be retiring at the end of the school year, but plans to stay on as a yearbook advisor, something she has done since 2001. Photo / Per Peterson

Karen Ziemke decided to step away from her paraprofessional position at TAHS a year earlier than planned after her November diagnosis, but maintains a positive attitude

On the Thursday before Easter, Karen Ziemke arrived at Tracy Area High School and, well, felt a little left out.

“All the paras walked into the room and they were all wearing matching shirts — my first thought was, ‘Why didn’t you include me in on the whole matching thing?’” Ziemke said. “‘Was I gone and you didn’t give me the memo?’ And then they all said, ‘Your fight is our fight.’ They also said the student body was all supposed to wear blue for me. It was very humbling.”

See more in this week’s paper!