Bates
Her joyful presence was profound inside a science classroom at Greenwood Community High School.
Karla Bates was a woman who deeply cared about the students who walked into her classroom every day over the last nine years. She made science fun for them, and made sure they were fed, her colleagues say.
Now that she’s gone, her loss is being acutely felt by the students, faculty and staff at the high school.
Bates died suddenly Sept. 9 after having a medical problem while driving home from northern Indiana. She was 48 years old.
”Karla was one that deeply, deeply cared about her kids, and not necessarily on the content they were learning, but just as people,” said Principal Michael Gasaway. “She always had a heart for kids and a heart for the underdog, and was just always, for the most part, in a in a positive, upbeat mood, and just really cared about the relationships that she built with the students.
Gasaway had gotten to know Bates over the last two years, since he first became principal of the high school. Her death has been a shock to everyone, he said.
“It’s never a good time to lose anyone. It’s never a good time to lose anyone when they’re 48 years old and six weeks into start of school, obviously, and that’s been tough,” Gasaway said.
Glenna Green worked with Bates for the last four years at Greenwood as a classroom assistant for several class periods. This year she was going to be with Bates for three class periods, the most she ever had.
“I’ve had the pleasure of working with her all four years that I’ve been there so far. … We were like a well-oiled machine,” Green said.
Bates was a “bubble of joy” and was very good for the students she taught, Green said. Bates worked predominately with student who had individualized education plans, or IEPs, and was good at tailoring lesson plans for them.
“Now, a lot of kids in her classrooms had behavior struggles, and also had kind of figured they weren’t passing science classes at this point, and [so] why try?” Green said. “But she was able to walk them through it, constantly evolving the lesson plan to make it attainable, to kind of coax them into the idea that, yes, they could actually pass this class. She had a really great way of making science fun again for these kids.”
But Bates went beyond just making science fun again for students. An avid couponer, she would use this skill to help her students by bringing in food for them all the time. She had talked about growing up hungry and how she never wanted her students to go through the same thing, Green said.
Bates would set up “peanut butter and jelly” stations in the back of the lab on a table. One time she brought in an entire sheet cake. She’d also bring in fresh apples from an orchard near her home, or even yogurt, Green said.
“These kids knew that they could come to her and get something to eat,” Green said. “So that was one of my favorite, favorite things about her.”
Being a woman of color, Bates was also a resource for students of a similar background. Students of color knew they could come to her and discuss cultural issues, Green said.
“If you saw some of the kiddos that walked in, they come from all varied backgrounds and she just embraced them,” Green said. “It didn’t matter if they had write-ups a mile long, they could come into her room and they could be comfortable and happy.”
If you treated Bates with respect, she would match that energy.
“Even if they didn’t, I don’t think I ever saw that woman lose her temper in four years,” Green said. “She’d always say, ‘Oh, I’m a grown woman. High school kids don’t get me riled up.’”
Bates did have a son who had died earlier in her life, Green said. Because of this, she always strived to be the teacher that he and other student like him needed.
“He had some mental health issues, and that’s why I think she was very perfectly situated in this role, because she understood, on a personal level, that kiddos with special needs need a different kind of approach and a different touch and she gave that,” Green said. “I think she did her son proud. I really do.”
A lot of students probably would’ve had to repeat the freshman biology class if it weren’t for Bates’ kindness and “making the modifications to help them” better understand the coursework, Green said. Bates also wrote college recommendation letters for several students who Green says would’ve had a harder time finding a person to give a recommendation.
“We’ll have a lot of kids heading off to higher education because of her kind words and and her dedication to getting these kids to appreciate science again and to pass it,” Green said. “So we’re going to feel that, the Greenwood family is feeling this loss intimately.”
After Bates’ death, high school administers gave all of her students the opportunity to write either a card to her family or to write messages in chalk on the sidewalks and driveways outside the building in her honor. They also had the opportunity to run on the soccer field if they wanted to, Gasaway said.
The Greenwood community — students, faculty, staff and parents — have also come together to grieve. Last week, the student body wore red — one of Bates’ favorite colors — to honor her memory, Gasaway said.
“It was awesome to see all the students that participate in that just to show their respects for her,” he said. “It’s been tragic, but through the tragedy, there’s been some beautiful things that have happened.”
Green will miss a lot of things about Bates, including her “boisterous and infectious” laugh and some of her “quirks.” Whenever Bates would let students know how much time was left in the class period, she would say they had a certain number of “productive minutes” left, Green said.
“I don’t know why, but it was one of those little quirky things that they they adored,” Green said. “And the teacher that is in there for the time being, while we look for someone to fill in Karla’s room, is trying to keep that spirit alive.”
Gasaway always appreciated when Bates would come down to his office and they would just talk. One of his favorite moments with her happened last year, when she came in and shut the door and started talking about herself, kids, teaching and where she was at, he said.
“For her to feel comfortable enough to come in and do that and have a conversation with me, and it was nothing more,” Green said. “She didn’t need me to answer anything. She didn’t mean to solve anything. She just needed to talk. I cherish that because I felt like we had a good moment there just talking as adults.”
Bates was “very wonderful” to Green, who is the mother of two special needs children. Last year, Green had to take some family leave to help one of her children and Bates, having had a son in a similar position, spoke with Green openly about that experience and both of their struggles.
“She just was very uplifting during an incredibly dark time in our life, in my personal life,” Green said.
At the end of the day, some want to be remembered for how they cared about others and how they were a servant leader. Gasaway says that is what Bates will be remembered for.
“I would say that definitely is what she’ll be remembered for, just her love for kids and her servant heart,” he said.
On Sept. 10, the day the school found out about Bates’ death, Green found Bates’ first period students sitting outside the classroom unable to get in. She thought it was odd, contacted school administrators and got the students into the room.
Green also texted Bates immediately and called her to find out what was going on. She didn’t get a response, she said.
“I just can’t bring myself to delete that message,” Green said. “I will deeply, deeply miss her.”
“… I think we’ll have pretty solid turnout for her services on Saturday, and she deserves it. The woman deserves the parade,” Green added.
Bates is survived by her children, Carlea Sykes and Anthony Tunstall; her siblings Paul Sykes and Alisha Sykes; her niece, Mai’Lisha Strane, and grandson, Andre Conner. She is preceded in death by her son, Andrew Tunstall, and parents, Linda and Paul, according to her obituary.
A memorial service to honor Karla’s life and contributions will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday at Little & Sons Funeral Home, 4901 E. Stop 11 Road, Indianapolis.
Bates’ full obituary can be found at shorturl.at/GYk7D.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 4:45 p.m. Sept. 21 to correct the specific science subject Bates taught.
