Terrye Stewart of East Palestine, center, is pictured with her husband Jeff and daughter Jocalyn Tigelman. Caregivers for area littles have organized a pasta benefit for their former preschool teacher who is fighting Grade IV glioblastoma. (Submitted photo)

COLUMBIANA – An appreciative community is gathering all the support they can muster for a beloved preschool teacher currently fighting the battle of her life.

Terrye Stewart is on medical leave from Knox Elementary School, as the East Palestine woman undergoes chemotherapy for Grade IV Glioblastoma.

She has taught area littles for more than 32 years, with her hometown school system, where she taught preschool for 14 years; the Columbiana County Educational Service Center; Crestview Local and most recently West Branch Local school districts.

A pasta benefit dinner is being held from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday, April 18 at Upper Room Fellowship, 500 Sponseller Road in Columbiana.

Stephanie Kale, whose daughter Sofia had been one of Stewart’s students, is assisting in organizing the fundraiser.

Meal costs are $10 for diners ages 11 and over and $7 for children age 10 or younger, including pasta and a meatball, salad, dessert and a drink.

Carryout also is available.

The event includes a basket auction, 50/50 raffle, and children’s crafts as supplies last. Kale also said that a special surprise also might be in the works.

Stewart had been diagnosed around Christmas 2025. She resided within miles of Ground Zero during the February 2023 East Palestine train derailment, although Kale said that specialists have been unable to definitely link her illness to the disaster.

However, studies have shown the exposure to vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) have been linked to cases of glioblastoma, which is a highly aggressive type of brain cancer.

Glioblastoma (GBM) accounts for nearly 48 percent of all malignant brain tumors, quickly invading surrounding brain tissue and often leading to headaches, seizures, personality changes and cognitive decline, the website for the American Association of Neurological Surgeons explains.

The National Institutes of Health’s Environmental Health Sciences division, which is studying links between glioblastoma and vinyl chloride, is one of the organizations involved in the East Palestine Train Derailment Health Research Program office that opened earlier this year in the village to study the derailment’s longtime health impact on the community.

Kale said that Stewart had been given one to two years to live upon her diagnosis, but her loved ones hope that the current treatment will lengthen her lifespan.

When teaching, Stewart’s forte was special needs students, Kale added. 

“While (she was) instructing at Crestview, everyone hoped that their child would be in Terrye’s class. She was a fan favorite,” Kale said.

Organizers hope that the benefit will help not only Stewart pay for her mounting medical bills but also check a few items off of her bucket list.

For information about the benefit, contact Kale at 330-651-2222.

Presale tickets also are available at the benefit’s event page, https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pasta-benefit-for-miss-terrye-stewart-tickets-1982729956674.