An Indiana school community is mourning the death of a young teacher honored as “Rookie Teacher of the Year” after she drowned with her younger brother during a family outing, only months after receiving the award.
Hannah Zweig, 21, a life skills teacher at John Adams High School in South Bend, and her 18-year-old brother, Yosef, died in Lake Michigan this week while on a family trip, according to WNDU.
In an interview with the station earlier this year, Zweig had shared that Yosef was developmentally disabled.
Authorities have not publicly released details about what led to the drowning.
John Adams Principal James Seitz announced Zweig’s death to the school community Wednesday, calling attention to her deep commitment to her students and her work in the classroom.
Seitz remembered the rising educator as someone who “worked tirelessly as a life skills teacher and made learning the cornerstone of her life.”
“She built positive relationships with all of her students and always worked to find ways for them to have success,” Seitz wrote.
“Most importantly, she was a friend to everyone she encountered. She always saw the best in people and made everyone around her better because of her hard work and positive attitude.”
Zweig graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Excelsior University in Albany, NY, in 2023, according to her LinkedIn.
She was also enrolled in a master’s degree program in special education and teaching at Grand Canyon University.
Zweig was awarded “Rookie Teacher of the Year” during the South Bend Community Schools’ Teacher of the Year Celebration in April.
Zweig described her first year as a teacher as “both challenging and incredibly rewarding.”
“I’m grateful for the support of my colleagues, the encouragement from leadership, and the opportunity to work with such inspiring students each day,” she wrote on her LinkedIn.
After finishing up her first year as a teacher, the 21-year-old wrote that the job “challenged me, pushed me out of my comfort zone, and taught me lessons that no college course ever could.”
“Teaching has reminded me that success isn’t measured only by academic progress, but by the connections we build, the confidence we help create, and the small moments that make a lasting impact,” Zweig said.
Seitz told WNDU that Zweig reached out to him looking for a job right as she was finishing up her bachelor’s degree — and that her dedication to her students and family is what stood out to him.
“I actually received an email from her about two years ago, explaining that she was finishing up her degree and she would be interested in a life skills teaching position at Adams High School,” Seitz told the outlet.
“And you could see from the tone of her email the compassion that she had for young people, especially young people with special needs.”
