‘Their favorite teacher’: Beloved CCSD educator dies at 53

“She was always really kind to everybody, even if they weren’t treating her with the same respect. I don’t think she ever flipped out on anybody, and she always listened to what you had to say,” Imagine Beeson-Brown, 14, said.

When Beeson-Brown had Haes for eighth grade history and geography at Miller Middle School, she often arrived early to bring her teacher cards or flowers — Haes’ favorite were cherry blossoms. It pained Beeson-Brown to hear about her favorite teacher experiencing health problems.

Haes, 53, died on July 6 at Valley Hospital Medical Center, after her family said she had dealt with unspecified health conditions. Haes taught in the Clark County School District for decades, and she left her mark on her students, colleagues and family. They remembered her as a kind soul who believed in the transformative power of education.

“Her main purpose as a teacher was to create a safe place for her students where they felt seen and heard. Over and over again, you’ll hear her students say she was their favorite teacher,” said Kim Caipa, Haes’ colleague and best friend. “She was just such a kind, gentle soul and would go out of her way if she knew her students needed something.”

Haes began her career in CCSD at Silvestri Junior High School in 2002, where she met Joshua Wikler. Wikler later hired Haes to join Miller Middle School, which is where she taught through the end of the 2024-25 school year.

“She was just an amazing advocate for children. She loved being in the classroom. She loved collaborating with her colleagues,” Wikler, now the principal at Miller, said.

At Silvestri, Haes and Caipa had classrooms next to each other. If they could, Capia said they would have knocked down the wall and taught together. The two taught at Silvestri together for over 18 years, and were known around the school as a dynamic duo attached at the hip, Caipa said.

“She was just a kind, gentle soul who really had a passion for making the world a better place, and treated everyone with such kindness, and was an amazing, educator, and such a good friend. I just feel so blessed that we got to work together for so long and have all of our fun adventures,” Caipa said.

‘Countless kids that Caprice affected’

As an adult, Haes called her high school guidance counselor to thank him for making a difference in her life, according to her cousin, Erica Andorf.

“One of her defining moments on why she became a teacher is because somebody made a difference in her life in high school and believed in her,” Andorf said.

As a teacher, it was Haes who made a difference for her students.

“She was always so sweet to all my friends,” Broch Mabeus, 15, said. “Even if I was being a bug and talking to my friends.”

Maebus said that Haes was one of his favorite teachers ever, and he remembered that even when his class was talkative, Haes was kind as she got them to quiet down.

“She would take maybe more challenging students, and by the end of it it she was their favorite class teacher. She had that compassion to really see the students,” Erica Andorf, Haes’ cousin, said.

Beeson-Brown’s father remembered Haes calling the home twice to say what a wonderful daughter he had, something he said had never happened before, even though he had seven kids.

Both Beeson-Brown and Maebus recounted Haes’ interest in students’ lives outside of school, and said they could tell she genuinely cared.

“There’s countless kids that Caprice affected,” Wikler said. “I’m just grateful to have been a small part of her story.”

‘Peace’

Haes’ students were not the only ones who benefitted from her warmth.

Although technically cousins, Andorf said that she and Haes considered each other sisters. Haes went by the nickname “Peace,” because Andorf’s son said her name like that when he was a child.

Once she was an adult, Andorf said that any given day, she would receive a card from Haes just saying she was proud of her. Haes had a stack of personalized cards she would regularly mail to people she loved.

Andorf said that she had to stop telling Haes when she liked something, because Haes would always give her things in her suitcase when she left a visit or send packages.

“She just was that person who did the most and was thoughtful and sincere. You’d watch her talk to other people and you just knew she saw them. She would ask very intentional questions and she’d make you feel special.”

In her memory, the family asked for donations to the “Caprice Haes Memorial Scholarship” in the nonprofit Project 150, which offers support to homeless, displaced and disadvantaged high school students in Southern Nevada.

Volunteering overseas

In addition to her work in CCSD, Haes also volunteered overseas.

She and Caipa volunteered in an “Adopt-a-school” program, in which the two traveled to Peru to deliver school supplies. Caipa said they made the trip five times with the help of student fundraising.

“We were both passionate about teaching the kids about the world and expanding their knowledge and just really creating a curiosity in them,” Caipa said.

The two also received a grant to go to South Africa and study Nelson Mandela, and were chosen by the National Geographic to study in Washington, D.C. for a week to become certified National Geographic educators.

“I’m going to miss the heck out of her. We need more people like that, that have that type of impact. If there’s someone that reads this piece or knows Caprice Haes that thinks about becoming an educator, we need them. She would feel the same way,” Wikler said.

Contact Katie Futterman at kfutterman@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ktfutts on X.