Banning Teacher Diagnosed with MDS: 'My Students Give Me the Will to Fight'

A teacher at Central Elementary in Banning who was recently diagnosed with smoldering leukemia said Friday his students "give me the energy and the will to fight this disease."

Kindergarten teacher Ray Alcala, also known as Mr. A, has been at Central Elementary the past four years and he has three children who attend school in Banning.

Alcala is 40, and he's been teaching 14 years, he said Friday. He is married to Sayra Alcala, and his children Celeste, 6, Ismael, 13, and Raymundo, 14, attend Central Elementary, Nicolet Middle and Banning High, Alcala said.

Alcala has been diagnosed with MDS, also known as smoldering leukemia, a disruption of the bone marrow, Central teacher Elisa Barr said Thursday night at a . His treatment requires a bone marrow transplant and he recently found a donor match.

Barr asked the Banning Unified School District board of trustees to help publicize an effort to register potential donors for the National Marrow Donor Program on March 24.

"Luckily, I found a match, but many other people are still looking for a donor," Alcala said Friday. "That is why, I feel it is important to continue with the bone marrow drive.

"My platelets have been dropping dramatically and yes I have been going in for platelets at least once a week to the Kaiser in Riverside," Alcala said.

"The transfusion usually takes about one hour and a half. Some days I do feel tired, but other days I do feel full of energy. Going to work helps a lot. Might sound cliché, but I need to be around my kiddies (students). They give me the energy and the will to fight this disease."

The marrow registration drive is scheduled 10 a.m. to noon Saturday March 24 at , 295 N. San Gorgonio Ave. in Banning.

Alcala's last day at Central before he begins undergoing extensive treatment is Tuesday, Barr said. The school has scheduled an open house at 6 p.m. March 13 in the main building. For more information, call Central Elementary at (951) 922-0264.