After having surgery performed on his bladder last Tuesday to remove a stage one cancerous tumor, Cougar Community Commitment (CCC) teacher Ron Poplau is back in action. With a short, five day recovery, Poplau is confident in the progress of his healing.

“ said he’s done the surgery hundreds of times and that he thinks he got it all,” said Poplau. “but has a way of making you feel like you are mortal.”

A life-sized card greeted Poplau upon his return. The card was created by art teacher David Hunt and was placed in the mall to be signed by the student body and staff. Covered head-to-toe with signatures and “get well” messages, the card stands as a tangible example of Poplau’s positive impact on the NW community.

Poplau has always been focused on CCC. Even while he was laying in his hospital bed he was concerned with how things were going back in room 208. “You sit there and look at the clock and envision what’s going on at school. Then again, you haven’t lived until they put a balloon in your bladder.” Because of his faith in God, Poplau had minimal worries about his surgery. With smiling confidence he claims that he “put it all into God’s hands… and she said she’d take care of me.”