TJ Teacher Remembered for Caring Spirit

[Kathleen Donovan, MEHMS PTA President]

Good afternoon, MEHMS PTA. It is with a heavy heart and fond memories
that I share the following:

POSTED: 11:42 a.m. EDT, June 7, 2010
By: FCCPS Communications
www.fccps.org

Thomas Jefferson Elementary School teacher Carey Rainey Gray is being
remembered today for her positive attitude and caring spirit. Gray
passed away Saturday after an 11-month battle with cancer. She was
34.

“As the reading specialist at TJ, Carey worked with students who
needed additional help,” Superintendent Lois Berlin said. “She was
the embodiment of a caring spirit, and she inspired her students to
become successful in the most sweet, gentle manner. She will be
missed.”

Gray was a 10-year veteran teacher and a 2005 nominee for the Agnes
Meyer Outstanding Teacher Award. In her nomination letter, then TJ
Principal Trudy Taylor described Gray as, “a team player whose warm
and trusting nature allows her to set a comfort level in her classroom
that encourages her students to take risks with their attempts at
learning.”

TJ students also wrote letters of support describing Gray as, “someone
who is nice and funny and is honest and fair because she splits things
equally.”

Gray’s teaching career started in September 1999, when she was hired
to teach first grade at Merritt Academy in Fairfax. She signed on
with the Falls Church City Public Schools two years later, serving
first as a 2nd grade teacher and later as the reading specialist at
Thomas Jefferson Elementary School.

Gray was a 1998 graduate of North Carolina State University where she
earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in communications. She earned her
licensure in elementary education in 1999 from Meredith College and
she earned her Master of Arts degree in education from the Virginia
Tech in 2006. Gray was also a graduate of Bishop O’Connell High
School in Arlington, Va.

Gray is survived by her husband, Trevor, and her son, Carter.
Visitation will take place from 4:00 – 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 8th
at Murphy Funeral Home located at 1102 W. Broad Street in Falls
Church. The funeral service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday,
June 9th at 10:00 a.m. at St. John Neumann Catholic Church, 11900
Lawyers Road, Reston, Va. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests
memorial contributions in Carey Gray’s name be made to the Mary Riley
Styles Public Library at 120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church VA 22046.