Altadena teacher surprised after losing home and classroom in Eaton Fire

LOS ANGELES COUNTY, Calif. - What started as a normal school day quickly turned into an emotional surprise for one beloved Altadena teacher whose resilience has inspired an entire school community.

During Teacher Appreciation Week, FOX 11’s Star Harvey visited Odyssey Charter School South alongside the founders of Greatfull Mail to honor Lisa Muthiah, affectionately known by students and staff as "Ms. Lisa," a veteran educator who lost both her home and classroom in the Eaton Fire but never stopped showing up for her students.

As students sat quietly at their desks, Harvey walked into the classroom carrying a box filled with rose petals, handwritten, personalized messages gathered from students, staff, and families, and a surprise gift card, all created through Greatfull Mail, a platform designed to collect heartfelt messages of gratitude in one place.

"On behalf of FOX 11 News, your students and staff here at Odyssey South, as well as the team from Greatfull Mail, we would like to honor you for Teacher Appreciation Week," Harvey told the emotional teacher as students applauded around her.

Ms. Lisa, overwhelmed by the surprise, reflected on the difficult road the Altadena community has faced over the last year and a half.

"This has been a really rough year and a half in a lot of ways," she said. "But there’s nothing like teaching to get to be present in the moment."

The Eaton Fire devastated large portions of Altadena and surrounding communities. According to Odyssey Charter School South Principal Bonnie Brimecombe, the school itself was a complete loss.

"We lost the majority of the buildings," Brimecombe said. "Every single one of my teachers lost their entire classrooms."

Ms. Lisa, who has spent decades teaching, also lost years of irreplaceable memories collected from former students.

"She created this tree where former students made leaves," Brimecombe said. "One of the heartbreaks was having to tell teachers they could no longer access the things they’d worked years to create."

The impact of the fire extended far beyond the campus itself. Odyssey South’s enrollment, once close to 400 students, was cut nearly in half after many families lost homes or were displaced across Southern California.

Still, school leaders say reopening quickly became their mission.

"We knew immediately — we’re opening, we’re coming back in person," Brimecombe said. "Our biggest fight was to come back to Altadena because we wanted families to know we’re still here."

And through all of it, they say Ms. Lisa remained a constant source of comfort and stability for students.

"These guys … my students," Ms. Lisa said. "That really makes a huge difference."

As part of the surprise, several students stood up one by one to read personal notes they had written for their teacher.

"You made learning feel fun and never gave up on me," one student said.

"The heart you put into the kids is everything," another student said. "I want to be a teacher because of you."

Another student thanked Ms. Lisa for always making them "feel special," while another said she "always encouraged me to never give up."

The moment was orchestrated with help from Greatfull Mail founders Jodie Ford and Hannah Randle, who say the platform was created to help people express gratitude in meaningful ways.

"We take all the thoughts that count from all the special people in someone’s life and put them in one place," Randle said.

Ford added, "The real gift is telling someone what a gift they are to the world."

The founders said Ms. Lisa perfectly embodied why they created the platform in the first place.

"There’s someone in everyone’s life who just doesn’t know how great they are," Randle said. "And it’s important to shine a spotlight on those people."

For Ms. Lisa, the box of letters became more than just a Teacher Appreciation Week gift. It became the beginning of rebuilding something she thought she had lost forever.

"This is her getting to restart all of those beautiful messages," Brimecombe said. "Today brought her that moment."

Even through unimaginable loss, Ms. Lisa says one thing continues to carry the community forward: each other.

"We create community around ourselves," she said. "Because without community … we can’t get through."

And in a classroom filled with laughter, applause, and handwritten reminders of love, that community was impossible to miss.