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TEACHERS AND COACHES HAVE THE POWER TO LEAVE A LASTING LEGACY. ����vlog SHANNON EARHART WAS IN PLEASANTVILLE TONIGHT AS THE COMMUNITY MOURNS AND REFLECTS ON EVERYTHING COREY WILLIS MEANT TO THEM. IN A GYM PACKED WITH ORANGE, YOU’LL NOTICE HINTS OF GREEN. GREEN IS LIVER CANCER. AND THAT’S WHAT COACH WILLIS HAD. COREY WILLIS SPENT 26 YEARS TEACHING AND COACHING AT PLEASANTVILLE HIGH SCHOOL. PROBABLY THE MOST DOWN TO EARTH GUY IN OUR SCHOOL. LIKE OUT OF ALL THE TEACHERS, HE’S GOING TO BE LIKE THE BEST TEACHER WE’VE EVER HAD. HE PASSED AWAY FROM LIVER CANCER LAST WEEK. OUR PRINCIPAL TOLD US THAT COACH WILLIS HAD CALLED HIM, AND THEN IT WAS A WEEK LATER. HE WAS GONE. IT’S JUST LIKE KIND OF A SHOCK TO YOUR SYSTEM. LIKE YOU’RE NOT PREPARED FOR THAT AT ALL. AND NOBODY’S PREPARED FOR IT. IT’S GOING TO BE TOUGH FOR REAL. IT’S SAD FOR SURE, BECAUSE HE WAS JUST HE WAS SUCH AN AWESOME GUY. AND IT’S JUST IT’S SOMETHING REALLY SAD. WILLIS CHALLENGED STUDENTS FOR TWO AND A HALF DECADES AS A U.S. HISTORY TEACHER IN OUR VOLLEYBALL PRACTICES, WE’D HAVE TO ANSWER LIKE HISTORY QUESTIONS. EVERY DAY WAS A BLAST GOING IN THERE. LIKE, NO MATTER WHAT WE DID, NO MATTER WHAT WE WERE DOING. LIKE HE ALWAYS MADE SOMETHING FUN. JUST LIKE THAT FIGURE THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU COULD ALWAYS GO TO FOR ADVICE TO. AS A PARENT MYSELF, THAT’S THE KIND OF TEACHER THAT YOU PRAY FOR YOUR KIDS TO HAVE, RIGHT? AND SO KIND OF COMING FULL CIRCLE TO WORKING WITH HIM, HE’S THE KIND OF GUY THAT MAKES EVERYBODY AROUND HIM WANT TO BE BETTER. PLEASANTVILLE IS SET TO PLAY MOUNT AIR TONIGHT IN VOLLEYBALL, TOMORROW IN FOOTBALL, A LITTLE BIT IRONIC AS MISTER WILLIS HOMETOWN IS MOUNT AIR. AT THIS TIME, WE ASK THAT YOU JOIN US IN A MOMENT OF SILENCE TO REMEMBER MR. WILLIS AND THE POSITIVE IMPACT HE MADE. SO WHEN I FIRST FIGURED OUT THAT HE PASSED AWAY, I DECIDED THAT IT’D BE IMPORTANT IF WE DID SOMETHING FOR HIM, SINCE HE WAS IN ALL OF OUR LIVES FOR VOLLEYBALL. SO I DECIDED TO BUY A RIBBON AND MAKE THINGS FOR PEOPLE TO WEAR. AND I ALSO MADE RIBBONS FOR THE OTHER TEAM, SO THEN THAT THEY CAN BE PART OF IT, WEARING THE RIBBONS AND STUFF ON OUR HELMETS AND THE VOLLEYBALL GIRLS WEARING THE RIBBONS TONIGHT. JUST THE LEAST AMOUNT WE CAN DO. SEEING THE SCHOOL AND ALL THE SUPPORT THAT WE’VE GATHERED IS JUST AN AMAZING, AMAZING FEAT BY PLEASANTVILLE. KIND OF JUST GOES ALONG WITH SAYING HOW GOOD OF A PERSON HE WAS AND HOW NICE HE WAS TO EVERYBODY WHEN HE GOT HIS HIS TERMINAL DIAGNOSIS. A LOT OF KIDS WROTE NOTES TO HIM. A LOT OF KIDS REACHED OUT TO HIM, AND I KNOW HE SAID TO HIS SISTER NOT TOO LONG BEFORE HE PASSED. YOU NEVER KNOW AS A TEACHER AND A COACH WHAT KIND OF IMPACT YOU’RE HAVING ON KIDS. AND HE SAID, EVIDENTLY I DID. SHANNON EARHART, ����vlog, IOWA’S