In early 2020, the American Preparatory Academy Valley One campus lost a beloved individual. Laura Dye, a guidance counselor at the elementary school, passed away due to a rare cancer known as cholangiocarcinoma. In the wake of her passing, the school has led a campaign to honor her legacy and the impact she had on the school. 

According to the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation, a nonprofit that seeks to spread awareness of the disease and improve the lives of patients, cholangiocarcinoma is “a highly lethal and rare bile duct cancer of the liver” and “the second most common primary liver cancer in the world.” An estimated 10,000 cases are diagnosed annually. 

Laura Dye worked at American Prep Academy as a guidance counselor for nearly four years. During her time at the school, she was a positive influence on countless students as well as American Prep as a whole, being remembered for her kindness and empowerment. She was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma in 2019, and died seven months later on May 2, 2020. 

A few days before she died, Laura Dye was in a state of unresponsiveness. During this time, despite the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions that were in place, several people from the neighborhood came to say goodbye and thank the Dye family for Laura Dye’s importance to them and influence on their lives from a safe distance. The community gathered to place green ribbons around the neighborhood to commemorate Laura Dye and spread awareness of her condition. 

In 2024, on the fourth anniversary of Laura Dye’s passing, her husband Jeremy Dye hosted an event that he dubbed the “Laura Dye Tie Challenge.” A necktie is part of both the male and female American Prep official uniforms, and Laura Dye firmly believed that learning to tie a necktie is an important lifelong skill for children to learn early on. In her honor, Jeremy Dye challenged each student to learn the proper method of tying a tie and hosted tie-tying workshops to help them master the skill. 

“It was rather rushed as we came up with it on short notice,” Jeremy Dye said. “So, given the short timeframe we had, I feel that it was a success.”

Around 75 students signed up for the challenge, and among them, around 25 completed it. On May 30, each of those 25 students was presented with a brand new tie as an award for completion. Jeremy Dye plans to work with the school to do this challenge every year, with the hope that participation will greatly increase over time. 

In addition to the challenge, Jeremy Dye and his family also encourage everyone, students and teachers alike to “love like Laura.” The family came up with the phrase in the few days in which Laura Dye was hospitalized and unresponsive. “Everyone she met was treated with kindness, love and respect,” Jeremy Dye said, “and it shows how everyone remembers her to this day.” λ