Remembering a champion for students: Ata Shakir

DeKALB – In his last days, a beloved DeKalb High School teacher entrusted one of his students with perhaps the most important job of all.

Recent DeKalb High School graduates and cousins Zuerek Day and Jelante Young visited Ata Shakir at the hospital Wednesday, two days before his death.

“He pretty much just said to try as hard as I do on the field in everything else in life,” said Day, who will go on to play football and run track at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. “He asked me to help take care of his son, to make sure he had a positive role model to look to. It meant the world to me, honestly.”

Shakir died Friday night at age 41 after a four-month battle with cancer, but he left a legacy.

His peers admired him for making achievement possible for all students during his half-dozen years at DHS and as an adjunct faculty at Northern Illinois University. A social studies teacher, Shakir also was a driving force behind the school’s diversity planning, said his friend and colleague, DeKalb High School Dean of Students Maurice McDavid.

His passion went far beyond the school's walls, however. Shakir also took pride in his work on the DeKalb Economic Development Commission.

“He had a lot of big plans for this city,” said his wife, Brenda. “He was a passionate, planning man. As much as I hurt for us as a family, I hurt for the community, and all the kids who will never have him.”

They have two children, Ata Jr., 9, better known as "Buddy," and Amirah, 12. Brenda said a day didn't go by that Ata didn't make them feel loved.

“His legacy was making people feel they were heard, and making them know they were loved,” she said. “Now that’s our job.”

Passing the baton

If a student invited Ata Shakir to a game, a graduation party or a Christmas play, he was there.

In his social studies classroom, he built a bridge for students who had potential but might not be inclined to take an Advanced Placement course, which allows high school students to earn college credit.

Ata Shakir spoke multiple times to the DeKalb School District 428 Board and curriculum council to secure funding for an AP human geography class. He succeeded, and the class has taken off.

“These are students who have never taken AP classes before,” new DHS Principal James Horne said. “He had kids taking AP in record numbers, and their scores last year were above the state average.”

“That was one of the really amazing things about Ata,” McDavid said. “You take your traditional AP kids, the kids who typically struggled or had attitudes sometimes. You talk to all of them, and all of them loved being in Mr. Shakir’s class.”

No matter the student's walk of life, Shakir was a mentor, McDavid said.

Day was one of those pupils with potential. He vividly remembers the “shoe battles” he had with his teacher as a freshman in Shakir’s world geography class. Day’s kicks of choice were Jordans. Ata’s were Skechers.

“He made fun of me for wearing a pair of $250 shoes just because it had someone’s name on them,” Day said. “I never rocked Skechers for him.”

The two shared more than laughter, however.

“He really stepped in to be a father figure to me in a time I really needed one,” Day said.

He said his mother, Amonaquenette Parker, raised him as a single mom.

"My mom’s my best friend, but there are some things a mom just can’t relate to,” he said. “He went above and beyond for me from the very first day we met.”

On the last day they spoke, in that hospital room, Shakir asked Day to be for Buddy what Shakir was for Day.

“For him to trust me with such a responsibility on his deathbed means more than anyone could ever understand,” Day said.

Condition worsened quickly

Shakir was diagnosed Feb. 10 with colon cancer, and he began an aggressive treatment plan.

The illness seemed to come out of nowhere: Shakir never drank and never smoked, Brenda said. He had no other medical conditions, no family history.

McDavid, who taught summer school the past five years with Shakir, remembered visiting him in the hospital shortly after his diagnosis. They talked about Shakir teaching summer school once again. In April, it became clear that wouldn’t happen, but Horne still expected Shakir to return in the fall.

“The assumption up until a couple of weeks ago was he’d be back,” Horne said. “He was so strong and so healthy.”

“He was a portrait of health,” McDavid said. “A big, strong dude.”

But Shakir's condition worsened too quickly for a proper goodbye celebration.

Friday night at Bethany Health Care, he said his last words.

“He said, ‘I love you, Buddy,’ ” Ata Jr. said Monday afternoon.

Brenda stayed with him until about 10:30 p.m. Friday, when he looked in her eyes.

“I told him, ‘Don’t you die while I’m gone,’ ” she said, “but I knew he didn’t want me there.”

He died about 11:30 p.m., and Brenda texted Day and Young, inviting them to come say goodbye.

“He truly was a father figure to those boys, and it was important for them to get to say goodbye,” Brenda said.

Celebrating Ata

DeKalb High School social studies teacher Ata Shakir was proud of his family's house at 432 W. Lincoln Highway. The family will celebrate his life there during an open house from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday.

To help

Visit GoFundMe.com and search for The Shakir Family Fund to donate money to help the family offset medical costs. The page has nearly reached its $15,000 goal, having raised $14,490 thanks to 232 donors as of Monday evening.