The sudden death of a young music teacher has devastated the South Bronx high school where she took joy in serving disadvantaged teens.
Mia Ibrahim – who took kids on their first trips to Carnegie Hall and stocked a mini-fridge with healthy snacks for the hungry – was fatally struck on Dec. 15 by a car that ran a red light while she was crossing a street in Lexington, KY.
“She was one of the most passionate people I know. She cared so much about the kids, and made a huge impact on the school,” Emily McLaughlin, a friend and science teacher at Health Opportunities High School, told The Post.
“Kids loved her. They would say that Mia’s always a positive force, always pushed kids to do their best, always believed in them.”
The 33-year-old Ibrahim, who described herself on Linkedin as a “queer music educator, scholar and advocate,” hung rainbow-colored flags in her classroom for every gender identity, and a “Black Lives Matter” banner, to make kids feel welcome, McLaughlin said.
A clarinetist, Ibrahim made her classroom “a safe haven” for teens to hang out and experiment with different instruments.
“I can see the joy and excitement, and the creativity being sparked,” the teacher said in a YouTube video feature.
Ibrahim grew up in northern California, the daughter of Lebanese immigrants, and went to work for NYC public schools in 2017 after earning a master’s degree at Teachers College. She revived a music program at PS/MS 29 in the South Bronx before joining Health Opportunities in 2019.
“I always knew I was a music teacher in my heart,” she told the non-profit Music Will, which promotes music education in public schools.
Ibrahim is remembered for her warmth, infectious humor and compassion.
“Life with Mia was just laughter from start to finish,” said Elizabeth Laberge, a fellow NYC teacher she had met in grad school.
After Laberge was diagnosed with cancer in 2022, Ibrahim supported her friend through the ordeal.
“When I had to shave my head to undergo chemo, Mia shaved her head in solidarity, and was there every step of the way,” Laberge said.
Ibrahim left New York last summer to get a Ph.D. at the University of Kentucky, teaching a class on the history and sociology of rock music on the side.
“This is a dream come true,” she wrote on Facebook last month. “Let’s spread popular music education to every corner of the globe, rock on!”