LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Andy Cousens was nominated by his colleague, Lynn Tolley.

"The global pandemic started impacting our school last spring on March 12th," said Tolley. "We found out on that Thursday afternoon that we would have school on Friday, and then close due to COVID-19 for an indefinite period. Our school had already planned for how to transition immediately to online learning. The following week, we were all 'in school' through Zoom and Google Classroom. Little did we know that the impact of COVID-19 quarantine would not be so much on our teaching and learning, but on our emotions and mental health. Over the next several weeks, it became apparent that we were not returning to school in person, and that our spring sports and activities were all cancelled, including, prom, DC trip, the senior trip, all the traditions around graduation week, and numerous other end-of-year memory-making events. The toll on the mental health of students and teachers was enormous."

This is where Tree of Life's LifeChanger, Mr. Cousens, comes in. Mr. Cousens is a high school teacher who also spends part of his day in the LifeCare office. The goal of LifeCare is to work toward the whole health of each child with attention on emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical health. Mr. Cousens began to shine as an encourager to students and staff, and his creativity and courage drove him into action. He initiated socially distant quick visits to students to deliver favorite candies or a special card or gift. A ring of the doorbell and a surprise gift left on your porch meant that Mr. Cousens had been there.

Mr. Cousens regularly encouraged staff and students alike with funny videos from quarantine, even making a spoof on Ferris Bueller's Day Off with himself as the lazy school skipper. He started hosting virtual game nights through Zoom where students and teachers joined the zoom call and played in a cup flipping tournament or other online game. You never knew what Mr. Cousens would think of next, whether it was a silly video, a special delivery to your senior girl, a virtual game, or even a devotion thought to encourage perseverance. 

His initiative and encouragement inspired other teachers to join in the focus on being a blessing. The faculty started delivering food to families hit hard by the economic shutdown. They made personal phone calls, served at a local homeless shelter to prepare food bags with students, secretly delivered yard signs to seniors and teachers, and even made a fun “DC trip” t-shirt for eighth graders who did not get to actually go on their trip. By the end of May, Tree of Life was doing drive-by send-offs for retiring teachers. Most of the staff had found a way to make an impact on students who needed some love and attention while stuck in quarantine.

"As a school, we received numerous thank you’s from families and students because of the way we reached out with joy and encouragement during these unprecedented times," said Tolley. "Andy Cousens was the instigator and inspirer of much of the life-giving encouragement during our COVID-19 quarantine. He's a LifeChanger who did not let a global pandemic stop him from lifting others up and giving them hope."