Beloved Plymouth High teacher grateful for support during cancer battle

Seconds before giving the green light to start a challenging, timed pre-calculus test, Plymouth High School math teacher Sharon Mackey told her students she was about to start the timer.

“I got out of my chair and said, ‘Oh, no, my shoe is untied’,” Mackey recounted, smiling.

Before starting the timer, she bent down to pretend to tie her shoe while gesturing to the students to start the test, lightening the mood in the room while giving her pupils a few extra seconds to conquer the exam.

“It was my way of trying to loosen the kids up because advanced math can be hard and stressful on them,” Mackey said. “Math can be so dry and hard; I did silly little things to keep them entertained.”

Mackey shared the anecdote during a gloriously sunny morning last week while sitting on a bench in Plymouth’s Kellogg Park, just a few feet from the gathering place’s calming fountain.

Deep love for family, teaching

On medical leave from teaching since March, when doctors discovered Mackey’s breast cancer (first diagnosed in 2015 before going into remission) had metastasized to her liver, brain and the lining of her stomach, Mackey smiled frequently while talking about the loves of her life: family and teaching.

Although she has lost 50 pounds during the latest chapter of her ongoing cancer battle and is beset by unimaginable fatigue and periodic nausea, not once did she exude even an inkling of self pity or shed a tear throughout a 50-minute interview.

“The way I look at life is every day is a gift,” she said. “It’s so easy to focus on what went wrong on any given day. Some of these things people worry about are legitimate, but you have to have perspective.

“A message I’d share with everybody, too, is cultivate relationships with people because you never know when you’re going to need them.”

Return to teaching put on hold

Mackey said she had every intention of returning to full-time teaching by April 1 of the 2023-24 school year — just weeks after she learned cancer cells had invaded her liver.

Doctors nixed her plans, however, explaining to her that she needed to conserve her energy and avoid potential life-threatening infections.

“I miss teaching so much,” she said, her days now filled now with radiation treatments and the fatigue created by the cancer-fighting medicines that are like double-edged swords.

“You build so many relationships through teaching — with your students, your colleagues. I miss the one-one-one teaching moments, the after-school study sessions.”

Those she interacted with on a daily basis at Plymouth miss her just as much as she misses them.

Heart-felt gesture

Just a few days after she was hospitalized in March, a pre-calc student brought markers and paper to Mackey’s classroom and asked everyone in the class to write a heart-felt message to their hospitalized teacher.

The messages were then delivered to the ultra-popular educator, who was a patient at Southfield’s Ascension Hospital.

“Reading those messages was so uplifting,” she said. “I read them all as soon as they were delivered. The nurses loved them, too. Every day, they’d pick out one to read to me. They loved them almost as much as I did.

“The support I’ve received through all of this has been phenomenal. I get so many messages on my phone every day, I don’t have time to respond to all of them.”

Mackey, who has been receiving out-patient cancer treatments for most of the summer, was named the honoree for the Plymouth boys soccer program’s annual Pink Out game set for Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. against Canton on the P-CEP grass soccer field.

“I was floored when (Plymouth High teaching colleague) Melanie (Burkett) told me I’d be honored at the game,” Mackey said. “It means so much to me.”

In April, she was also chosen by a Plymouth boys lacrosse player to walk with him during a pre-game ceremony that honored teachers who inspired their students.

Due to her hospitalization, Mackey had to miss the game; however, she has every intention to present for the Sept. 26 Pink Out soccer game.

Students are like family

Plymouth High debate and speech teacher Scott Thomas spoke for all of Mackey’s teaching colleagues when he said, “Sharon cares about everybody as if they’re part of her family.

“She is one of the most optimistic, passionate and caring people you’d ever want to meet,” added Thomas. “As a teacher, I’d give her an ‘A’. As a human being, I’d give her an ‘A-plus’.

“When I was going through a really tough time with my Stills Disease and was away from school for a while, Sharon took a picture of my classroom door and sent it to me with the message: ‘I miss seeing your smiling face’. She’s that kind of person. Sharon doesn’t consider herself an inspiration for others, but she inspires people daily.”

The impact Mackey has had on her hundreds of students over the years was summed up by a Facebook post shared by Stacy Plum, whose daughter Claire was blessed to have Mackey as a teacher.

“In a short period of time, Mrs. Mackey made a big impact on (2024 graduating senior) Claire,” Stacy Plum included in a tribute to “the amazing educators/coaches that were incredibly important in my senior’s life.”

‘Knack to connect’

“She has an amazing knack to connect with kids and to inspire learners to love math.”

Mackey showered her husband of five years, Joe Mackey, with the highest form of praise.

“I’m not sure what I’d do without him,” she said. “He schedules all my appointments, and if there’s an issue with a prescription, he makes calls to work it out. He’ll do eight things for me before he does one thing for himself.”

A tradition she missed dearly this past summer was hosting “Auntie Camp” for her nieces and nephews.

“I’d get together with them about once a week during the summer and take them to the zoo or someplace cool,” she said. “I wasn’t able to do that this summer because of everything going on, but hopefully we’ll pick it up again next summer.

“My 7-year-old nephew is very insightful. He told me this summer, ‘I just want you to get better, Auntie’.”

She fights cancer with her faith

Bolstered by a strong faith, Mackey said she fights her relentless opponent hard every day.

“I try to stay strong for my family,” she said. “My husband, my dad (Ron), my siblings and nieces and nephews have all been so supportive. I owe it to them to fight as hard as I can.

“I have a blanket I often wrap myself in that was given to me by a colleague. If I’m feeling down, I look at the Bible verse that is sewn into the blanket: ‘I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me’.”

She then unleashed a resilient smile that proved cancer can manufacture chaos in her body, but it cannot dent her spirit.

Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.