Taysha Hein went to the doctor thinking she had the flu, but instead was diagnosed with Leukemia. Taysha’s friends back at Afton-Lakeland Elementary School wanted to help her in any way that they could. Jeff Dayton, country singer/songwriter, with the help of Taysha’s friends, wrote her a song called ‘Dear Taysha.’ As Taysha fights this battle, she will have this piece of happiness knowing that all of friends are there for her.

Lois Sortedahl, one of Taysha’s teachers in the multi-grade classroom 4/5 Express, has had her husband’s long-term friend Dayton work with her students. Dayton has done a residence with the students for a few years. Last year, Dayton came in for two days. The class wrote two songs called ‘Think With Your Heart’ and ‘Oh, Snap.’ This year, Dayton and the students decided that they wanted to write a song for Taysha.

“It was really nice to know that you are doing something for someone who needs it and to know that you’re supporting someone. I think it was really nice to have the experience of getting to write songs,” said Katie Kangas.

Kangas is one of Taysha’s good friends. She is part of the 4/5 Express classroom. Katie was out of the classroom when Mrs. Sortedahl told the students that Taysha was sick. When Katie got home her mom told her what had happened.

“Oh my gosh, that’s crazy. I wouldn’t think of someone being that sick, that I know,” said Kangas.

It’s hard for anyone to wrap their mind around a serious illness suffered by someone they love. It’s always a delicate topic and everyone deals with the situation differently.

“Mrs. Sortedahl and the other 4/5 teachers did a great job telling the truth but making the story more about Taysha and her road ahead and the fight she was going to fight. Keeping only positive thoughts,” said Afton-Lakeland mom Becky Johnson.

Johnson’s daughter Evelyn is a fourth grader in 4/5 Express.

Johnson said, “She was a little confused – but mainly sad for Taysha and her friends. She knows that she is sick and has to be in the hospital for a long time. She understands that Taysha will have a different life now and only hopes she gets better.”

Dayton is currently a Nashville songwriter. He toured with Glen Campbell for 15 years. After the students wrote ‘Dear Taysha’ Dayton brought it down to Nashville, and back up bands created the sound track. He came back to Minnesota and the students recored their voices. The recording took place in a small basement studio out in West Lakeland. When they recorded the song, KSTP came to film them.

“The cameramen would be right here (gestures next to face) we wouldn’t be able to giggle, and it was really fun to do it. I thought it was going to be bigger than that. We were all squished into this tiny corner, about 18 kids,” said Kangas.

The students wanted to offically sing Taysha their song. The entire Afton-Lakeland Elementary students and staff crowded into their gym. Each group of students went up and sang their part of the song with Dayton accompanying them.

“Her grandparents were so amazed that someone would do that. She had listened to it before, but we didn’t get to see her first reaction. You could tell that she really liked the music,” said Kangas.

Dawn Bancroft is the mom of Gracie who is another one of Taysha’s friends. Bancroft runs the CaringBridge site to raise awareness of Taysha’s illness.

“You can download ‘Dear Taysha‘ for 99 cents on iTunes,” said Bancroft.

All the money from the sales on iTunes goes to Taysha and her family. Doing a selfless act can bring a person happiness in diffcult times. When others are happy happiness can be contagious. Taysha will always know that her friends love her.