Hartselle Junior High School eighth graders and their teachers wear “Team Burks” T-shirts to show support for Jennifer Burks, a sixth grade teacher who is battling cancer. | Clif Knight

Jennifer Burks, a sixth grade teacher at Hartselle Intermediate School, has been missing from the classroom since last fall but she’s still very much present in the minds and hearts of her fellow teachers and students.

Administrators, teachers and students at Hartselle Intermediate and Hartselle Junior High Schools – more than 500 strong – wore white T-shirts with the words “Team Burks” reproduced on the front and a Bible verse from Proverbs 3:5 on the back.

The Bible verse read: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”

Burks went on medical leave after she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, and continues to receive treatments at a hospital in Nashville, Tenn.

The T-shirt fundraiser was organized and coordinated by teachers Tasha McKee, Phyllis Wright and Amy King. More than 500 of the shirts were sold within a week and $2,600 for the Burks family was left after expenses.

“Buying a T-shirt and wearing it to show their support for Ms. Burks and her family was something the students wanted do to help,” said McKee. “Their response was beyond all expectations.”