NANKIN — Raichel Herte and Lauren Elson are teachers at Mapleton Local Schools, and have advised the student council for a little over a year.
Breanne McKean, one of their students, served as a student council representative. Elson had her in class starting in sixth grade, and Herte first had McKean during her freshman year.
McKean, a senior at Mapleton High School, was a three-sport athlete. She played volleyball, basketball and softball. McKean was in advanced art, student council and the National Honor Society.
“She was close with us,” Herte said. “We knew a lot about her.”
The last week of September, the school announced McKean as one of the Homecoming court’s members. She was selected by her classmates. Herte said the nominations for Homecoming court came late this year, thanks to awkward timing of the Ashland County Fair.
McKean was excited to be nominated, but was stressed about not having enough time to prepare, Herte said. She wanted to buy a new outfit to wear on the field. Herte remembers her talking about leaving volleyball practice early to go shopping with her mom that week.
As a student council member, McKean also helped decorate the school ahead of the dance.
“She always wanted to be out all day long to decorate and we would never allow that,” Elson said. “And somehow, she would always invite her friends that aren’t even in student council to decorate, and I’d make [Herte] go be the bad guy and tell them to go back to class.”
McKean put up a balloon arch on the stage in the school’s common area. Teachers and the middle school principal, Cory Runkle, heckled her as she did. It was crooked. McKean dished it right back.
Herte said McKean got to Homecoming early, which was of note because she often ran late to things.
As McKean walked onto the field on Sept. 29 before the game for Homecoming festivities, she collapsed. She was rushed to the hospital. At halftime, an announcement came over the speakers.
Scott Smith, Mapleton Local Schools’ superintendent, told the stadium McKean had passed away. Officials suspended the game. Grief counselors were immediately available to talk with Mapleton’s students.
The coroner’s office said a cause of death could not be determined. On Oct. 3, the coroner’s office released that a preliminary report was ready, but pending a toxicology report.
That takes about 12 weeks, according to Jenny Taylor, an investigator with the Ashland County Coroner’s Office. She told Ashland Source a toxicology report was standard procedure and is done at the call of a medical examiner. Taylor couldn’t say if there were specific substances they were testing for.
The news of what happened to McKean made headlines statewide. In the days that followed, the McKean family received an outpouring of support.
Area school districts, teachers, friends and parents posted tributes to Bre under the hashtags “Mapleton Strong” and “Live Like Bre” on social media.
They shared photos dressed in Mapleton Local Schools colors. Local businesses made t-shirts and hosted bake sales, donating the proceeds to her family.
The school district announced a memorial scholarship fund in her name, run through the Ashland County Community Foundation.
The ACCF’s communications director, Courtney McNaull, confirmed to Ashland Source Oct. 13 that the Breanne McKean Memorial Scholarship Fund had reached the minimum amount to establish a scholarship fund. That minimum amount is $15,000.
The McKean family — Tim, Michelle and Megan — put out a statement on Oct. 11.
“We cannot begin to thank all the people who have helped us in this time of emotional support. Your thoughts and prayers mean everything to our family.”
Their statement said the family plans to award the Breanne McKean Memorial Scholarship beginning in 2024. The statement said it will be at least one award of $2,100 to a student in the 2024 class.
Even with McKean’s absence, her friends and teachers at Mapleton Local Schools have vowed to remember her how they can: by living every day like they say she did — to the fullest.
Loud and proud
Jillian Grundy, Eastyn Rohr and Breanne McKean had all been friends since kindergarten. Emilee Dennison, another member of their close circle, had been “best friends” with McKean since the first grade.
Grundy plays volleyball, runs track and is in the student council. Rohr plays volleyball, participates in Future Farmers of America and is a member of the National Honor Society. Dennison plays volleyball and softball, is a student council and NHS member and participates in yearbook.
Grundy, Rohr and Dennison are all seniors at Mapleton High School.
Kerry Reisinger, a 10th grade English teacher and the NHS adviser at Mapleton Local Schools, said her daughter is in the senior class with these girls. She described it as a special group, and attributed part of that to McKean.
Grundy described McKean as the light in the room, and Rohr said she was the glue that brought their friend group together. Dennison described McKean as her “go-to girl,” especially when she needed a smile.
“At our school, everyone knows everyone,” Rohr said. “But she was friends with everyone, you know?”
McKean had a big personality.
“She could probably captivate the attention of every single person in a room by coming in and starting, being loud, being opinionated,” Herte said.
Grundy said when McKean would come over for sleepovers, her dad would always have to tell McKean to quiet down. They’d be awake late, and McKean’s voice always seemed to be the one that carried.
“My dad would be like, ‘Calm down. It’s 2 in the morning,’” Grundy said.
Still, Rohr said most of their friends’ parents loved McKean.
McKean left “vlogs” on peoples’ phones, too. If you left yours out around McKean, you could expect to come back to a video of her talking about whatever was happening in that moment.
“One time I was getting help on a math test and I came back and I looked at her vlog and she was in the lunchroom, and she was like, ‘I don’t know where you’ve been, but you’ve been gone this whole lunch period,’” Grundy said.
McKean always ended with, “Like and subscribe, comment down below what your favorite part of the vlog was.”
Grundy said she’s glad to have those vlogs to look back on now.
‘The rules didn’t apply to Bre’
Dennison crossed paths with McKean in advanced art classes, and described her as a “talker.” McKean was always joking.
They’d procrastinate their art projects together. Dennison got inducted into the National Honor Society before McKean. She gave McKean advice on writing her essay.
Her friends said McKean could get away with things other students couldn’t.
“It was always a battle,” Elson, her teacher, said. “Her cell phone was always a battle, her Apple Watch was always a battle. This is terrible to say, but the rules really never applied to Bre, but she was never in trouble for it. It was funny.
“She hated the rules, and she made sure to tell us and the administration as well.”
Reisinger advised NHS, and said McKean especially enjoyed volunteering with Lutheran Village. She built strong connections with others, and that included a resident there that McKean looked forward to seeing again.
Reisinger agreed with Dennison that McKean was a talker, but she wasn’t a discipline problem.
Instead, Reisinger knew McKean would be the first student to raise her hand and get a class discussion rolling. She said McKean was a good student to have in class, and excelled at including others.
Herte agreed. She’s finding out McKean had friends that she wouldn’t have guessed.
Fearlessly opinionated
Grundy, Rohr and Dennison said McKean wasn’t afraid of anything, from looking silly to sharing her opinions. That came out in sports and in student council.
Her personality was strong, and fierce, and she used it in all of the right ways. It was never malicious, or in a bad way.
Raichel Herte, student council adviser and teacher at mapleton local schools
Grundy, Rohr and Dennison all played volleyball with McKean. Grundy said the two of them rode the bench together during their freshman year. Volleyball isn’t Grundy’s main sport, and McKean was most of the reason she stayed on the team.
As “bench buddies,” she had a front row seat to McKean chirping at other teams, and sometimes even at her own. Rohr said McKean got in trouble a few times for what she’d say on the bench.
“If, say, someone served it out all the way, she’d be like, ‘Really?’” Grundy said.
She was never mean toward anyone though, they said. She was just willing to speak her mind. Mostly, she was funny about it, but people definitely knew what she thought.
Rohr added that McKean was always first up to try out a new drill. She’d go all out, and wouldn’t care if she did it wrong or looked silly.
“She had no care in the world,” Rohr said. “She didn’t. I would be scared to do it wrong, but she had no care in the world.
“It wasn’t a bad thing that she didn’t care, but she just did her thing. She made everything fun.”
Elson and Herte said everybody knew what McKean thought of something in the student council, too. She never backed down from her position. It made her a good leader.
“Her personality was strong, and fierce, and she used it in all of the right ways,” Herte said. “It was never malicious, or in a bad way.”
They said she had opinions about balloons, decorations and more. Grundy said if she had an opinion on something at student council, she’d tell McKean about it. McKean would speak up for them both.
“If she didn’t like it, it wouldn’t happen,” Grundy said.
Grundy remembered a time they were decorating for a school dance, and the student council had purchased fish cutouts to go along with the Hawaiian theme.
McKean didn’t want them on the wall. She said they looked like decorations for a 5-year-old’s birthday party.
“She was not happy about it,” Grundy said. “We just had to ignore them when we got to the dance.”
School spirit
Herte also remembers McKean for her school spirit.
McKean attended every football game, basketball game and got people excited about the Mounties.
McKean led the student section in chants and cheers at games. Rohr and Grundy said that was mostly because she was the loudest one in the stands.
Rohr said she decked out at every game and sometimes got in trouble for her loud nature.
“She sometimes yelled, ‘Butterfingers,’ at our own players,” Rohr said.
Herte said the student section has become louder since McKean has been at the school.
Rohr and Grundy said McKean went all out for Spirit Week, too.
It’s amazing the impact she made, without even realizing she impacted everybody.
Eastyn rohr, senior at Mapleton high school
Last year, Spirit Week had a rhyme-without-reason theme. McKean and Dennison dressed up as “Slim Shady” and an old lady, Elson and Herte said. Elson said she came across a video of theirs on TikTok.
McKean wore an outfit of her dad’s to school in her role as “Slim Shady.” The whole day, people thought she’d dressed as him.
“She looked just like her dad,” Elson said. “I was like, ‘Are you Tim?’ And she said, ‘No, but these are Tim’s shorts. One false move and they’ll fall down.’”
Having McKean around as a leader was a good thing.
“What she led, people did with her,” Elson said.
Dancing like nobody’s watching
Rohr, Grundy, Dennison, Herte and Elson all remember McKean for her dance moves and love of music. Dennison said McKean danced any second she could.
She was a huge fan of Post Malone and Rihanna, especially the song “Where Have You Been?” Dennison said she always brought a speaker along at volleyball games.
Herte still has a pump-up playlist McKean made when Herte coached her in volleyball. She said most of the songs are from those two artists.
“Anytime we were all together, it was like a dance party,” Rohr said.
The girls would dance in the locker room together, and scream Taylor Swift on the bus rides home from volleyball games.
Grundy said one of their “things” was making TikTok dance videos together.
“I have a lot on my page right now, which I will cherish forever because they’re the best,” Grundy said. “She was good, too. She was a pretty good dancer — had more rhythm than me, that’s for sure.”
Rohr said the pair loved to sing “Chicken Fried” by Zac Brown Band together.
Grundy, Rohr, Dennison and McKean all went to prom together last spring. Dennison remembered McKean wearing a sparkly blue dress. She never wore plain dresses, Dennison said.
McKean tore her ACL during softball season in the spring, so she had to wear sneakers to the dance. Dennison said her date wore sneakers with her.
Dennison said their group all took nice photos together at Kingwood Center Gardens in Mansfield before the dance. Grundy and Rohr said McKean was never too worried about photos, though. She preferred to be more in the moment.
McKean ended up winning prom princess. It was something McKean hadn’t expected, according to Dennison. It didn’t surprise Grundy or Rohr, though.
“I mean, who wouldn’t vote for her?” Grundy said.
They said McKean was always fun to be with at a dance. She’d get their entire group out on the dance floor, having a good time.
Live like Bre
According to Herte, McKean was excited about her senior year. She looked forward to the future. McKean hoped to go to school to become a physical therapist, or something in that realm.
Her friends said she’d just started getting back onto the volleyball court after healing from her ACL tear. Even though the squad didn’t have a good record, they said it’s the memories of the team that will stick with them. McKean is at the center of most of those.
“When I think of back in high school, she’ll be the first person who comes to mind,” Grundy said. “She was the light of my high school experience for sure, and I will remember her being in high school with me until I’m old.”
All McKean’s teachers and friends who spoke with Ashland Source said the amount of support their district has received has been overwhelming. It still feels surreal — things like this have happened at other schools, but they never expected to be grappling with it themselves.
Grundy and Rohr said it’s been hard, but all the support has helped.
“It’s amazing the impact she made, without even realizing she impacted everybody,” Rohr said.
The senior class, sports teams and student council are continuing to come up with ways to honor her life and memory.
“As we get older too, we’re never going to forget her,” Rohr said. “But I want to make sure everyone here remembers her and the type of person she was, and the type of person they should be.”
Her family, in their Oct. 11 statement, thanked the students; Mapleton High staff and administration; Ashland University for the use of the Niss Athletic Center for her memorial; and the community for their support.
“This small note is just a thank you to you all. Your thoughts and generosity will never be forgotten.”
Herte said McKean’s love for her family was evident. Her mom worked at the school, and McKean would visit with her between classes. She loved having her mom around, Herte said.
Matt Wade, a teacher at Madison who used to be at Mapleton, had McKean in his first class there. He shared a post on Facebook with his favorite memories of Bre. He said McKean was a joy to have in class, but one thing he remembered most was her love for her dad, too.
“You don’t often see a middle school girl going up to her father in the middle of the hallway to give her dad a hug in front of all her friends,” Wade said.
More than anything, though, her friends and teachers said what they want people to take away from Bre’s story is to live the way she did.
Rohr said that means living life with no regrets and not worrying about what others think of you. Grundy thinks it’s about being kind and being there for others.
“She was happy, kind, strong and fierce,” Herte said. “She was everything to everyone.”
For those interested in donating to McKean’s memorial scholarship fund, you can visit the following link: https://accf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4531.
