Sorority to hold bone marrow drive for Arkansas kindergarten teacher

Tonya Courtney-Nichols, 48, of Little Rock, was diagnosed with leukemia last fall, the television station reported.

"I've had five rounds of chemotherapy since September," Courtney-Nichols, who taught at Wakefield Elementary School but is now confined to her home, told KLRT. "I need a bone marrow transplant, but right now there's no donor."

Courtney-Nichols, who became a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority when she was in college, is getting some help from the Little Rock chapter.

"We want to do everything we can to ensure that she's here for as long as she can be," Katrina Owoh, president of Little Rock's Beta Pi Omega chapter, told KLRT. The sisters have already held one bone marrow drive and are planning another one for April 28, the television station reported.

"It does not take very long," Owoh told KLRT. "It's a simple swab and you could potentially save a life."

The AKA sisters started a Facebook page for Courtney-Nichols called "Friends of Tonya."

Courtney-Nichols, a mother of three, is hoping for the best.

"I'm just going to stay positive and I will find a donor," she told KLRT.