‘A positive force:’ Bronx high school mourns music teacher fatally struck by car
NY Post
The sudden death of a young music teacher has devastated the South Bronx high school where she took joy in serving disadvantaged teens.
Mia Ibrahim – who took kids on their first trips to Carnegie Hall and stocked a mini-fridge with healthy snacks for the hungry – was fatally struck on Dec. 15 by a car that ran a red light while she was crossing a street in Lexington, KY.
“She was one of the most passionate people I know. She cared so much about the kids, and made a huge impact on the school,” Emily McLaughlin, a friend and science teacher at Health Opportunities High School, told The Post.
“Kids loved her. They would say that Mia’s always a positive force, always pushed kids to do their best, always believed in them.”
The 33-year-old Ibrahim, who described herself on Linkedin as a “queer music educator, scholar and advocate,” hung rainbow-colored flags in her classroom for every gender identity, and a “Black Lives Matter” banner, to make kids feel welcome, McLaughlin said.
A clarinetist, Ibrahim made her classroom “a safe haven” for teens to hang out and experiment with different instruments.
