​​Teacher reads a bedtime story to her students 1 day after brain surgery: 'I miss you'

K.D. Meucci, a fourth-grade teacher, might have just had brain surgery but all she could think of was her students. Within a day of having a brain tumor removed, the fourth-grade teacher at Benjamin Franklin Elementary School in Bethel Park, held a Facebook Live with her students to let them know she was okay and that she was missing them. She wasn't just checking in on them, she actually held 'storytime' for her online reading group. Meucci had organized a reading group a couple of years ago as a means for teachers and students to virtually meet and read bedtime stories together, reported People. 

The teacher, hailing from Pennsylvania, knew her students would be worried for her, aware that she was undergoing brain surgery. Meucci held a Facebook Live to hold the storytime session and to show her students she was ok and that she had missed them all. In the Facebook Live video, Meucci can be seen pulling out a book while still on her hospital bed on Thursday. "Of course I packed a book," she casually remarks. "I knew I would be here on Thursday night, so I packed a book from the library."

"Sorry if I look a little weird, I know I look a little weird," she said to them at the start of the video. "I got this black eye right here because again they cut open my head right here to take out my brain tumor." She had picked out Mr. Walker Steps Out by Lisa Graff, a children's book about a human-shaped figure that lives inside a traffic signal box. She patiently read the book, frequently turning the book towards the camera so her kids could see the images on the pages she was reading from. The book's message is about finding one's value in the world and you can't help but think that Meucci is already aware of her value in the world, of being the best teacher and a mentor for kids. 

Meucci was heavily bandaged at the head following the surgery but she still wanted her students to know that she was OK. She said as much to them in the video. "Most importantly, I wanted to see you [for you] to see that I'm OK. I look a little funky, but I wanted you to see and know that I'm OK," she told her students in the video. "I just want you to know that I love you and I miss you."

She assured her students she'd be back soon. "Don't you worry friends, I'll make it back to my corner too, you don't have to worry about that. Because my corner is right where I belong at Ben Franklin Elementary at Room 25 with my friends and Meucci's Crew," she said. Meucci said doctors believe they have removed all of her tumor, which was "probably benign."

K.D. Meucci makes learning fun and is also very innovative in her approach to teaching. She was named an All-Star Teacher by the Pittsburgh Pirates and was nominated by Franklin Principal Teresa Doumont. "I'm humbled and honored to have been selected as an All-Star Teacher," said Meucci at the time. "I can't believe the effort it took to put together the conference call that included my students.  It made me feel so loved and appreciated."