• Article Photo. Tilford teachers are wearing their 'Where John Counts' shirts again today in memory of John Scriven.
    Tilford teachers are wearing their 'Where John Counts' shirts again today in memory of John Scriven.
  • Article Photo. Tilford staff honored the memory of John Scriven by wearing their 'Where John Count' shirts.
    Tilford staff honored the memory of John Scriven by wearing their 'Where John Count' shirts.

Nearly a  year ago, just days after John Scriven's 58th and last birthday, the staff and students at Tilford Elementary, where John had been a janitor for years, held an assembly to honor him and present him a $10,000 check to help pay his medical expenses as he faced his final days of fighting cancer. 

The "Where John Counts" campaign inspired the student body, and the community, and earned its leaders a special award from the Kirkwood AEA.

Today, in honor of what would have been John's 59th birthday, staff members are wearing their black "Where John Counts' t-shirts in honor of the late custodian. 

Teacher Sarah Mathis, one of the organizers of last year's fund-raiser, summed up the mood of the day in one sentence: "It was an amazing day at Tilford Elementary, 'Where John counts!'"

See more stories about John below:

Pep assembly

Fund-raiser

John T-shirt column