Third-grader's helpful spirit lives on

FARIBAULT - Excellent instructors often leave positive, indelible impressions on their students.

But for Faribault teacher Sara Lueken, it was the other way around.

Shortly before winter break in December 2014, Jessica Jandro, one of Lueken's bubbliest third-graders, unexpectedly died.

"Jessica's loss was devastating to her family and to our classroom," said Lueken, 44, herself the parent of a seventh-grade son and a 10th-grade daughter. "I had never lost a student before.

"Jessica was intelligent, spunky and so kind — and her life will never be forgotten."

That's due in part to initiatives Lueken implemented in Jessica's name, including building a Little Free Library at a neighborhood park where Jessica used to play.

Most notably, Lueken established the student-supportive "Jessica's Closet" in 2016 at Faribault's Lincoln Elementary, with the assistance of Jessica's family, local churches and Lueken's friends and colleagues,

In the increasingly diverse Rice County seat (in 2022-23, 59% of Faribault's 3,300-plus students are from minority populations), the ready availability of free items such as boots, hats, mittens, scarves, gym shoes, socks and snacks — including granola bars, raisins, applesauce, Goldfish crackers and microwavable macaroni and cheese — has had terrific value for hundreds of students.

"Watching a little buddy try on a new coat, feel the comfort of a new pair of boots or fill a bag with food for the weekend fills my heart to the brim," said Lueken, who maintained "Jessica's Closet" in a portion of her own classroom for a lengthy period.

This fall, the 22-year teaching veteran moved across town to Jefferson Elementary, where the vast majority of her 20 students are diverse. The Lincoln Elementary social worker is aiming to reopen Jessica's Closet as winter draws near, Lueken reports, while Lueken is debuting a branch at Jefferson.

"We have some gym shoes available right now, but there's greater need for winter gear when the weather changes," said Lueken.

Motivated by grief and struggling to find meaning in the loss of a 9-year-old who had demonstrated so much potential and was visibly kind to her peers, Lueken was prompted to start 2015 with a mission.

"I challenged myself to perform one kind act each day for a year," she said. "That 365 days of kindness was a way for me to help replace some of what was lost with Jessica."

She decided it didn't have to be a grand gesture, but every day Lueken did something. Buying flowers for a friend, leaving extra coins in candy machines, organizing trash clean-ups, donating birthday boxes to the food shelf and creating hygiene bags for the homeless were all things Lueken did in tribute to Jessica.

When that year ended, her practice was habitual.

"Kindness and karma had me hooked," she said.

Switching out her worldview and focus to what she could do for others rather than seeking to enrich or elevate herself propelled Lueken to take on any and every volunteer opportunity that came her way.

"Sara is always the first one willing to jump up and lend a hand," said Bri Isaacson, a friend and longtime Faribault teaching colleague.

"She goes out of her way to lift people up, and when she does these things, everybody ends up benefiting from it because it spreads out from her in a ripple effect."

Lueken's list of volunteer efforts in recent years is lengthy — attempting to include everything is like swatting at gnats — but includes tasks such as being the uniform/equipment manager for third- through eighth-grade traveling boys' basketball teams, collecting wish-list items for local nonprofits, being an outreach committee member at Our Savior's Lutheran Church and preparing and serving free meals at Faribault's "Community Cafe" at Cathedral of Our Merciful Savior on Tuesday nights.

In the latter role, Lueken kept going even while some regular volunteers stayed away during the heart of the pandemic. She plumped up her usual monthly date to a once-a-week presence, offering free hearty and nutritious meals to anywhere from 150 to 300 people at a time.

"Our volunteers are back in force, so I'm now serving just once a month again, but it's always one of my favorite days because the people who come are so thankful for the food and fellowship," said Lueken.

Kira Anderson, currently pastor of St. Ansgar's Lutheran Church in Cannon Falls, worked alongside Lueken at Faribault's Our Savior's Lutheran Church for years and attests that Lueken has her priorities straight.

"Sara has the biggest heart and would gladly give the clothes off her back to help one of her kiddos or anyone in the community," said Anderson.

"She doesn't do these things for her own accolades; she does it to make sure people's needs are met."

Nevertheless, Lueken's quiet acts of service and determination to live her life as a community servant were outstanding enough that she was named the 2022 Faribault Citizen of the Year.

That's an honor she calls "unexpected and humbling," words she delivers sincerely and with the wish that others will follow her example and do more to help — just as she was prompted to after contemplating the legacy of a kind little girl named Jessica.

"I have been blessed tenfold in return for anything I have given," Lueken said.

"I want to instill in my students and my own kids the idea that if you can help others along the way, it makes the world even better."