New scholarship dedicated in honor of late CVPA teacher Jean Kuczka

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - Jean Kuczka devoted her life to helping others and even in her death, she continues to have an impact on young lives. The 61-year-old health and PE teacher was shot and killed last October when a gunman entered Central Visual and Performing Arts High School (CVPA) in St. Louis, killing Kuczka and a student.

Wednesday night, two of her children presented a scholarship to a Lindbergh High School senior in honor of their mother.

“My mom impacted a lot of people. Her passion was teaching,” said Joe Kuczka, her son.

Jean Kuczka graduated from Lindbergh High School in 1979. The scholarship in her name was awarded to Jane Guillot -Beinke, who plans to study music education at Mizzou next fall. The senior says it’s an honor to receive such a special scholarship.

“She devoted her whole life to teaching, truly in every sense of the word, and I think that’s incredibly honorable of her,” said Guillot-Beinke.

The Kuczka family says it’s an honor to help another young teacher and they hope schools become a safer place for the next generation. Watching the latest school shooting in Nashville was tough.

“It’s hard to see that and to know those families, I now unfortunately know what it feels like,” said Joe Kuczka.

They still have questions about what happened that October day at CVPA.

“Could it have been prevented? We still have a lot of questions we want answered,” he said.

They might never know all the answers, but what this family does know is they will never stop carrying on the memory of a woman loved by so many.

Just last month, Jean Kuczka was awarded one of the highest civilian honors, the Citizen Honors Award, which is earned by acts of bravery, service and self-sacrifice. Only five United States citizens receive the award annually, and Kuczka’s fell under the Single Act of Heroism classification.

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