Students remember murdered Surrey woman as a kind, excellent teacher

Students of Maja Paderewska’s are in shock today.

The North Surrey Secondary School teacher was found dead in a Coquitlam home on Sunday afternoon. Her 27-year-old brother has been charged with second-degree murder in her death.

Paderewska taught business and economics, and her students cannot believe she is gone.

“Pretty heartbreaking for a lot of the kids at North Surrey right now,” said one of her students, Max. She was his teacher for Economics 12.

“I mean she taught business, but she was very personal with her students,” he said. “As each one walked through the door each day, I remember being referred to as ‘dear’ and ‘Mr. Max’.”

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, (IHIT), were called to a townhouse in the 2900-block of Panorama Drive in Coquitlam around 3 p.m. on Sunday. They are still trying to determine a motive for the murder.

“We’re still at the crime scene, we’re still collecting evidence, and one of the things we’re trying to determine is exactly what the motive is and why this occurred,” said Sgt. Adam MacIntosh of IHIT.

Maja’s brother, Jarek Paderewski, made his first court appearance Monday afternoon. IHIT confirms he was not previously known to police.

Some of Paderewska’s students have now taken to social media to express their shock at the news.

“As soon as that came out on social media, it was very sad for everyone,” said Max. “Everyone remembered her as someone who brought a good light to North Surrey, someone who was loved by a lot of the teachers and the students. It was very very sad for everyone there.”

“She definitely did not deserve it.”