When students at Frank Vessels Elementary School wanted to send letters of encouragement to a soldier serving overseas, the group made their effort a little more personal than most.

The Cypress school students not only found a specific soldier to correspond with, but found one who is from Cypress. Command Sergeant Major Ronald Cabrera has served multiple tours of duty overseas and most recently in Afghanistan. He is a Cypress resident.

When he was deployed last year 3rd graders from the class of Kristine Conwell wrote him super star letters telling him about themselves, praising him for his bravery, and encouraging him to stand strong. Before he returned he wrote each of them a personal letter and sent them each a star that had been cut from a soon to be retired American flag.  Theflag was flown on an A-10 jet mission.

Conwell did not immediately disclose his responses to her students, but rather waited until he returned and invited Cabrera to visit the class and personally present the letters and stars to the students.

On Dec. 20, Cabrera visited the school, where the now fourth grade students joined Conwell’s current third graders and met with Cabrera. He presented the students with their stars and also gave Conwell a picture and flag that had been flown on a mission in Afghanistan on Veterans Day in 2013. It also included a certificate that was signed by his crewmembers on that flight.

Cabrera spoke to the students about the importance of being responsible and respectful. He noted that he liked the school’s “Pawsitive Behaviors” rule that requires students to be respectful, responsible, safe and ready to learn.

The Cypress High School boys’ basketball team is preparing for their 2014 season, practicing regularly, even on their winter break. New varsity head coach, Derek Mitchell, prompted the players to improve their free throws, playing a game of “Make it, or run suicides.”

Two players stepped up to the line, missing the shot, accompanied by groans and tired pants. Jayson Fields, a returning varsity player, then approached the free throw line, making the shot. Encouraging words and excited shouts applauded Fields’ swish through the net, as the team proudly looked to a teammate ready to take to the court after a series of medical surgeries and injury.

Last February, Fields suffered a seizure while watching the Superbowl at a friend’s house. Rushed to the emergency room for a Cat Scan, a large mass was discovered in his brain. Fields underwent an MRI at Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC), and was told he had a tumor.

Fields was more than a little alarmed about what was happening.

“I was pretty scared,” Fields said. “It was my first operation, and they were talking about cancer, and how I would have to go through chemotherapy. I started crying when they told me that.”

The surgery removed the tumor, and the doctors confirmed that it was not cancerous.

Two months later, however, massive headaches interrupted Fields’ daily schedule, sending him back to the hospital to be told he had internal bleeding in his brain, a hemorrhage.

“They had to cut my head open, drain all of the blood out, and put it all back together again,” Fields recalls.

A few weeks later, it happened again, and the same operation was performed.

By that point, Fields had experienced three brain surgeries from a condition he never knew he had. Doctors explained that the tumor likely existed for a long time. What Fields thought was normal for a child-zoning out- was actually mini-seizures. Finally, doctors granted Fields a shunt in his head, to end the internal bleeding.

Four months and four brain surgeries left Fields asking time and time again when he could resume playing basketball with his team.

Fields returned to the court for his game debut in July of 2013, scoring and earning a standing ovation from the crowd. The celebratory applause turned into deep concern when Fields went down with an injury.

Mitchell remembers how it happened.

“The ball was about to go out of bounds, and Jayson tried to dive for it; his body just wasn’t ready for it,” Mitchell said.

Fields broke his arm in two places. His frustration over having to go through repetitive surgeries grew.

“After having several surgeries, I hated it,” Fields said. “I hated going to the hospital every time. I just didn’t want to get hurt again, and ended up breaking my arm… I just went crazy.”

Fields managed to regain his motivation and even continue practicing while in recovery, on a basketball court and hoop fit for a hospital room, brought to him on a visit from his teammate.

When asked what he loves about basketball, Fields is blunt and rather emphatic about that point.

“The competition,” he said. “I like the challenge that you have to keep pushing yourself.” Fields’ drive to succeed and continue playing the sport he loves inspires his teammates and peers, who describe him as a mentor for the younger players, a fundamentally sound and skilled player on the court.

Teammate Alex Heitman, who has played with Fields since the seventh grade, explains how his friend’s situation has brought determination to the team.

“If he can come back from something that big, then there aren’t really any excuses that any of his teammates can make for why they would miss practice, or not work as hard as him,” Heitman said.

Daylin Patton also recollects the lessons that the four-year player has taught their team.

“Keep playing basketball,” Patton said. “Keep doing what you love. Keep working hard. You never know what could happen.”

Reluctance regarding the decision for Fields to continue playing seems natural. Mitchell says Fields will play as long as his doctor has cleared it and his family approves. Michele Morales, Fields’ grandmother, admits the apprehension that many teammates, friends, and family members feel about her grandson’s condition,

“I want him to keep playing, but of course there’s always that fear that something else could happen,” she said.

But for both Fields and his grandmother, there was never a question as to whether he would play basketball again.

“It never crossed my mind to stop playing,” Fields said. “I’ve been playing my whole life.”

Morales feels a swell of pride when she sees her grandson out on the court.

“Proud, very proud,” Morales said.

Recalling some of his favorite high school basketball memories, “playing against the seven-foot Mamadou for the championship game and winning”, Fields is happy to be back on the court for his senior year.

Fields wants to continue playing basketball in college, while studying athletic training or kinesiology. But his first order of business is trying to take his team as far as he can, including making the CIF playoffs.

Fields and the Cypress basketball team spring back into action with an Empire League matchup against Kennedy at Cypress High School.