Watsonville High community mourns deaths of several of their own

WATSONVILLE, Calif. (KION) Two teachers at Watsonville High School have passed away this month. Abel Mejia died earlier this week and his brother, Ruben Mejia, passed away in early September. The two men are also Watsonville High School alumni.

“The news for both was so sudden. One moment you’re in a meeting and the next you’re receiving a call,” Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers President Nelly Vaquera-Boggs said.

Out of the families privacy, the school is not saying the cause of death of the brothers.

Both men taught at WHS since the early 2000's. David Machuca had Abel as a teacher his senior year.

“He was a little bit tough on us sometimes, but in a way he pushed us to challenge ourselves academically," Machuca said. "They were able to put in their part as an educator and be able to motivate a lot of us to further our education.”

In July, guidance counselor 54-year-old Federico Castaneda also unexpectedly died. Just seven months before that Biology teacher Bill Callahan passed away from congestive heart failure.

The district is offering grief counseling for students and faculty members.

“[Thursday] we had a check-in meeting where teachers and classified staff were able to share their feelings and it was pretty positive because everyone just had their time and space to come together,” principal Dr. Clara Fernandez said.

“With the loss of two teachers within the first month of school for our students, it's very difficult for our staff grieving and being present for their students every day,” Vaquera-Boggs said.

The school plans to honor the four men with some form of memorial in the near future.