A team of four Aubrey High School teachers surprised their colleague, Jim Siano, who is not easily caught unaware with a sweet year long-project on May 23.
Beverly Langford, Marissa Cabrales, Lisa Gaston and Renae Leyba spearheaded the project starting in May 2024 in case their friend decided to retire after the '24-25 school year.
'Quilts tell stories through fabric and thread,' said Gaston, whose room the group gathered in to create the project, in the accompanying film created by teacher Andrew Brewer. 'And so to tell the story, we did get the help of his wife [Faye], because we wanted the accuracy and we wanted all the information.'
Each of the quilters took squares to create, bringing them together to tell the larger story, including his service as a Marine, work in the Federal Bureau of Investigation and his career at Aubrey ISD.
'We would come together every so often and check progress and start piecing it all together,' Leyba said. 'It really brought us together closer as friends, too, rather than just colleagues, so it's been a special project.'
Along the border of the backing are the signatures of each of the AHS staff members.
'It's a memory for him of all the staff members that he worked with,' Leyba said.
She took the Chaparral from one of her son's shirts to stitch into the quilt for Jim, who had been that son's basketball coach.
It was Jim's ability to connect with not only his peers but also his students that inspired Langford to start the project.
She searched for the right pattern during a quilting retreat over the summer.
'When we came back in September, we started meeting, and each one of us decided on what square we were going to do,' Langford said. 'We had the Italian Catholics and we had the football and basketball; we had the FBI and all these different things, and everybody put their ideas together in their square. In January, we all got together and we pieced all of our squares up together. The first week of April, we finally had everything together for the top.'
Denton Embroidery provided the golden embroidery with Blind Justice and a quote from Ruth Bader Ginsberg that says 'Fight for what you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you,' on the back, asking only for a picture as payment.
'A whole community came together,' she said.
In the video, three of Jim's students spoke about the impact he has had on them and their appreciation for his genuine nature.
Brewer had the signoff be Jim's oft-repeated 'Fuhgeddaboudit.'
From the video through to looking over the quilt, he was choked up with emotion.
'It's very humbling,' he said. 'I didn't know anything about it. These are great people to work with and for them to do something like this is mind-boggling.'
He was grateful, too, to have his family, including his son Tommy Siano, daughter-in-law Tracye Siano and daughter Lisa Walsh, there for the unveiling.
'He's been through a lot in his years, and it shows,' Tommy said, choking up himself.
He added that seeing his father surprised was a fun twist.
'He's always hard and a Marine and FBI,' Tommy said. 'He's always been a rock. So, you see the soft side.'
Walsh was grateful, too, to see her dad honored by his friends.
'I'm not surprised because he's wonderful,' she said.
Seeing the care they put into the gift showed how much they care about him.
'He never speaks ugly about anybody,' Walsh said. 'How can you not love him? He's just a wonderful person.'
Faye, too, was grateful for the token.
'I'm so proud of him, and I think he deserves it, and I know how much it means to him,' she said.
As for the future, Jim's not planning on retiring yet.
'I will be here next year,' he said. 'I've put my letter in that I want to come back next year. I really enjoy what I'm doing. I enjoy my class, and I enjoy all these great people. I don't have it in me to sit back and do nothing.'
