'Teach like Ty'

FOSTORIA --- It's safe to say Tyler Mescher touched a lot of lives during his two years as a student teacher at Fostoria Elementary School. Working first at the preschool level with Barbie Curlis and then with kindergarten teacher Ryan Whipple while attending Bowling Green State University, Mescher was known for his upbeat personality, his desire to be helpful and his love for the schoolchildren. "Teaching was his thing," Whipple said of the tall young man with the ever-present smile. "He loved to come to school and be around the kids. One thing, from a teacher's perspective of everything, he always was willing to step in and help out, no matter what. He taught in my room, but he went down and helped out, just to experience the second grade. He also helped a first-grader out. "He was willing to do anything and everything. He had a lot of experiences, which is what he wanted to do. He was just a kind-hearted guy who was there to help anybody." Mescher, who had helped Marion Local High School win state championships in football and basketball in his senior year, graduated from BGSU in May 2022 with a bachelor of science degree in early childhood education. "They actually offered him a job," Tyler's mother, Tracy Mescher, said. "He was going to teach there. ... (But) just graduating college, he didn't have a lot of money. He wasn't on his feet very well, and I kind of suggested, 'Why don't you live at home and try to get a job close to home?' He was offered a position at Spencerville schools, so he turned down the position with Fostoria and took the position at Spencerville. "But, of course, he never got to teach. He graduated, and a month later, he was gone." Tyler Mescher was working in a nearby foundry on June 1, 2022, when he suffered heat stroke and died that day. He was 23 years old. "There were no answers as to why or how it happened," Tracy Mescher said. Because of the atypical circumstance of a BGSU student working at the same school two years in a row, Tyler had some youngsters in class during both of his years at Fostoria. Whipple, Curlis and Tyler's mother said a mutual love grew between him and any youngsters he met. "He was so good with the little kids, and they loved him," Curlis said. "He was very patient and just very kind," Whipple said. "He was kind to the kids. He was fun with the kids. He just enjoyed them. He loved to be there." Mescher arrived at the school with Curlis having already received an endorsement of him from her daughter, Bryanna, who also attended BGSU and was friends with Tyler. Barbie had asked her daughter if she knew any of the students on BGSU's list of potential student teachers. "Bryanna was like, 'Mom, you've got to take him,'" Barbie said of her daughter, who now teaches in Upper Sandusky. "'He's like a big teddy bear. You'll love him.'" The 6-foot-1, 225-pound Mescher's fondness for the students grew evident. "He loved the students there," Tracy Mescher said. "I think he really loved – How do I say this without being disrespectful? – that he felt like they needed him. He was a big role model. He was a male, a good father figure to a lot of the kids. I think he got a lot out of it because he felt like he did a lot of good while he was there." She added: "I just think younger kids tend to look up to males. You just don't always have that father figure in the schools -- young males in the schools who are willing to help young kids." Tracy and her husband, Mark, were grateful for how their son was treated during his time in Fostoria. (Barbie Curlis said Tyler referred to her as his "school mom.") After their son's death, the Meschers established a scholarship in Tyler's name to benefit students in their hometown of Maria Stein and surrounding communities. "I reached out to Ryan and said, 'I want to do something for Fostoria,'" Tracy Mescher said. "(Tyler) just really thought so much of the school. He just felt they taught him so much about teaching." The Meschers had more than 30 T-shirts made for Fostoria student teachers and recently drove to Fostoria to present them. The front of the T-shirts read, "The future of education is bright at Fostoria Elementary." A sleeve is emblazoned with "Fly high Ty." Other teachers in the school wanted T-shirts, too, and made donations to the scholarship fund amounting to more than $500. Curlis said she continues to display a small framed photo of Tyler in her classroom. "He definitely left an impression on all of us," she said. "'Teach like Ty. That's what we always say to the new student teachers coming in. He gave his whole heart." Said Tracy Mescher: "When we went there and presented the shirts, we had probably three or four different teachers come up and introduce themselves and mention to us that they knew Tyler and how important he was and what a good guy he was. It just touches your heart to know that he did good. You worry about your kids and how they're going to turn out, and 'Are they going to do the right thing?' I think we can definitely say that he did."