Staff Report 
Former Principal Narrates Video Honoring Daniels
Exactly one week after the memorial service for a beloved longtime educator, the Edgefield County School District published an online tribute Sunday afternoon remembering her service to students and to the community.
On Wednesday, August 27, Michelle Yolanda Daniels died at age 54 following what the tribute called “a brave fight during an extended illness.” She had served as special education teacher at Johnston-Edgefield-Trenton Middle School.
A 1989 graduate of Ridge Spring-Monetta High Schoool, Daniels earned her bachelor’s degree in 1995 from Claflin College in Orangeburg and her master’s degree in education from Cambridge College in Massachusetts in 2010. According to her obituary published by Butler & Sons Funeral Home, she was “less than 30 hours shy of her doctorate degree and was in the process of re-enrolling in school” and “she constantly pushed others to continue their education.”
Daniels’ teaching career included service in Saluda, Aiken and Lexington counties; she joined the Edgefield County School District in 2011. The video tribute posted by the School District on its website and social media platforms extended its condolences to Daniels’ family, adding that “we are forever grateful to them for their sharing of such a wonderful person and sweet, giving spirit with us for so many years.”
The six-minute School District tribute was narrated by former J-E-T Middle School principal Debbie Courtney, who also represented the school district at Daniels’ memorial service on Sunday, August 31. Courtney now serves as the District’s Coordinator of Student and Parent Advocacy.
“Ms. Daniels was a light to everyone she met. Her light wasn’t loud or boastful—it was steady, gentle, and constant,” Courtney said in the video. “She taught us all, not just through her lessons in the classroom, but through the way she lived her life. She showed us that true resilience is not about avoiding hardship, but about walking through it with courage, faith, and determination.”
The full video tribute to Michelle Yolanda Daniels can be viewed on the Edgefield County School District’s Facebook page.
Video Includes Emotional Recitation Of ‘The Dash’
The video featured photographs of Daniels as a young woman, dressed for church, and in her recent years serving alongside colleagues at J-E-T Middle. It opened and closed with a photograph of her with her face aglow from an illuminated bulb on a wooden base, presented to her by School District, that read, “Exceptional Leadership Lighting The Way.”
“She had a gift for seeing the best in every child—and helping us see it too,” Courtney said in the video. “She devoted her life to educating children, pouring her energy, creativity, and compassion into each lesson. She challenged young minds, encouraged hesitant voices, and lifted up students who didn’t yet believe in themselves.”
According to the tribute, Daniels also inspired her co-workers. “And she did the same for us, her colleagues. So many of us can say: ‘She believed in me when I wasn’t sure I could keep going.’ That encouragement was her quiet but powerful way of changing lives,” Courtney said.
The video tribute also included a reading of the 1996 poem, “The Dash,” composed by Atlanta-based poet Linda Ellis. The poem, now a popular choice worldwide for funeral recitation, illustrates the importance of the “dash” between a person’s birth date and the date of their passing.
“Ms. Daniels should be so proud of how she spent her dash. Ms. Daniels was steadfast and stoic, yet tender and kind. She was patient, but firm. Quiet, but strong,” Courtney said. “She carried herself with humility, never seeking recognition, but always striving to help others succeed. She truly was, as so many of us have said, a bright light, an angel walking among us.”
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