The promise of summer in the air, the over-eagerness to jump into a cool refreshing pool, late night barbecues and long hot muggy days of doing nothing were right around the corner from the days of sitting in a classroom, itching to be free of worries.

Summer was just hours away when students’ worlds changed. The students of AP Spanish teacher Bill Couture had known that he had been sick for a while and knew that the prognosis wasn’t good.

But none of them had expected that the night before school ended, one of their favorite teachers would be gone.

Juniors Mily Montanez, Jazmin Ramirez, Heidi Babin and Stephanie Gonzalez were in Couture’s class and were putting together a video for him. The girls went to Lacy Jenkins’ room to finish it up and learned Couture had passed away the night before.

“We cried and it was hard, they knew he did not have a lot of time,” Montanez said. “But we didn’t think it was going to be so soon.”

The Latino Club and other students chose to honor Couture this year with a Day of the Dead altar near his old classroom in the 2300 hallway.

ESL teacher Lois Hardaway said Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos, is a holiday that honors those who have died. People open up their homes and lay out food like Pan de Muerto, a type of bread, and favorite items of the deceased. The spirits are supposed to come back and gather to those locations. Day of the Dead is from Nov. 1-2.

The display for Couture included photos of him and his wife, his students, photos of his travels, and symbols of his favorite sports, baseball and football, and favorite foods like cherries and tortillas.

Hardaway remembered times spent with Couture at lunch.

“He was always on a diet to improve his health, and he would always gripe about having to eat salads and fruit,” Hardaway said. “We would enjoy his griping. He wanted to eat steak and fatty foods.”

Sophomore Wendy Salazar remembered how Couture would put his food outside his window and use it as a refrigerator. Senior Christian Vasquez recalled a special moment shared with Couture.

“When my grandma died he told me that there’s a reason why things happen,” Vasquez said. “Maybe it was a good thing for her to die, that now she is in a better place. That kind of got to me and I am thankful for his words.”