ELKVIEW, WV (WOWK) — When the Capital High School band director took another job last week, the school’s marching band was left without a director.

That is when a very special teacher at Herbert Hoover raised her hand to help. All week long, Meleah Fisher has pulled double duty — starting with Hoover’s band in the morning, then Capital’s at night.

For Fisher, it is all about repaying a favor. When Hoover was hit hard by the rising Elk River in 2016, the band room was flooded by seven feet of water, and surrounding schools donated instruments and uniforms.

“I’ve been helped with us losing our school,” Fisher says. “We were helped financially. We were helped with uniforms from Annandale High School. We wore those for two and a half years.”

Even during those tough times, Fisher refused to let the music die, says Herbert Hoover’s principal Mike Kelley.

“Those kids just continued,” Kelley says. “They didn’t complain. They didn’t make excuses. They just kept going, and that’s all attributable to Ms. Fisher’s leadership.”

To Fisher, she has done nothing special.

“I’m nobody, I’m just the band director here at Hoover,” she says. “I love my kids, and I’m soft-hearted, I’m sorry. I told Capital’s kids I hope whoever is their new director loves them as much as I love my kids.”

But to others, she means so much.

Principal Kelley says, “Meleah is just one of the most decent people I know. She’s a great role model for kids, she works hard.”

Fisher has been teaching at Hoover since 2000. She says being a part of the band has given her a sense of belonging.