Texas shooting: The teachers who sacrificed their lives to protect children

“We have a wonderful year ahead of us!”

This sweet and simple line written by fourth grader Eva Mireles at the start of the school year is now haunting.

On Thursday, the last day of school, she and co-worker Irma Garcia were to pack up their shared classroom at Robb Elementary in the small, Texas town of Uvalde and prepare for summer vacation.

Instead, their families make funeral arrangements after they are gunned down in a mass shooting that also killed 19 of their young students.

In the days since Tuesday’s attack, the bravery of Ms Garcia and Ms Mireles has been commended – they have been seen trying to protect their students from the bullets.

Ms. Garcia was found by officers “holding children until their last breath,” her nephew, John Martinez, told the New York Times.

“She sacrificed herself to protect the children in her classroom. She was a hero,” he wrote on a donation page.

And Ms Mireles’ sister Maggie wrote: “Eve really is the definition of a heroine. She put her own fears aside to protect her students that day.”

Ms. Garcia and Ms. Mireles had been a teaching team for five years and had a combined experience of 40 years.

A photo taken last month shows the couple in their classroom watching students as they work on iPads, one giggles – he probably knows the photo is being taken.

“Eva Mireles and Irma Garcia were two of Uvalde’s greatest teachers, [Texas] ever known,” wrote Natalie Arias, an education specialist living in Uvalde.

“Her classroom was filled with fun, growth, giggles, teamwork, and most importantly, love.”

As the grief continues, there is also anger that another deadly school shooting has been allowed to take place.

In Texas, it’s legal to buy a gun at the age of 18, and according to US media, the attacker bought his – an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle – just after his birthday.

“I am angry that these shootings are continuing, these children are innocent, guns should not be readily available to all,” Eva Mirele’s aunt Lydia Martinez Delgado said in a statement.

“This is my hometown, a small community of less than 20,000 people. I never thought this would happen, especially for loved ones,” she wrote.

Ms Mireles’ husband, Ruben Ruiz, is a school police officer. Two months ago he conducted active shooter drill, which is common in US schools, at Uvalde High School. Little did he know that just a few weeks later his own wife would become a victim.

The Washington Post reports that Mr Ruiz rushed to Robb Elementary when he heard the news and had to be held back by other officers as he desperately tried to get to his wife.

According to the Washington Post, at least 185 children, educators and others have been killed in attacks on US schools since the Columbine High massacre in 1999.

There’s even a unique Kansas memorial to “fallen educators” that “honors those who lost their lives in the ministry.” These words, which are more familiar when it comes to soldiers, have been used here to describe murdered teachers. Now there are two more names to be inscribed on the memorial wall.

Ms. Mireles, who has been a teacher for 17 years, described her love of running and hiking in a short biography posted on the school district’s website. She also said she has “a supportive, fun, and loving family” — her husband, her college-educated daughter, and “three furry friends.”

Her daughter Adalynn Ruiz wrote a heartbreaking tribute to her “sweet mama”. Twitter.

“I’m so happy that people know your name and your beautiful face and what a hero looks like,” she said.

“Eva Mireles, 4th grade teacher… who selflessly jumped in front of her students to save their lives”.

Ms Mireles was trained in special education and was remembered by one parent, Audrey Garcia (no relation to Irma Garcia), for going “beyond all else” as a teacher.

Only a few years ago schools in the Uvalde area started to integrate children with developmental disabilities into regular classrooms and Ms Mireles was one of the teachers she taught.

“She was a beautiful person and a dedicated teacher. She believed in Gabby and did everything to teach her,” Ms. Garcia wrote on Twitter.

Ms Garcia was a veteran teacher of 23 years – all of whom were at Robb Elementary – and was the school’s 2019 Teacher of the Year.

“I’m so excited to start this new school year!” she wrote in her bio on the district’s website.

Authorities told her family that Ms Garcia was seen by a friend in law enforcement trying to protect her students from the shooting.

“I want her to be remembered as someone who gave her life and risked it for her children,” John Martinez, her nephew, told the Washington Post.

“They weren’t just her students. These were her children and she risked her life, she lost her life to protect them. That’s the kind of person she was.”

Ms Garcia was married and had four children – two boys and two girls, aged 12 to 23.

Her Facebook page is an album of family memories and pride for her children.

“Thank you Jesus for my amazing husband and babies,” she wrote under a photo of a family fishing trip.

The teacher’s social media also showcases her commitment to her career and her students.

“I learned so many new ways to challenge my future students to be independent learners,” she wrote in a post showing certificates for a course.