Forty teachers at Midwood HS in Brooklyn rallied on behalf of one of their former colleagues on Nov. 27 by volunteering to have mouth swabs taken in search of a bone marrow match. Michael Starr, who was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2009, had been a teacher for 19 years. He first taught at Sheepshead Bay HS for 12 years and then at Midwood HS, where he was a dean and flight science teacher for seven years before retiring in 2011. His wife, Margaret DeSimone, a science teacher at Midwood HS, organized the stem cell drive, which was limited to school staff under the age of 44. Each of the 40 volunteers had four different swabs taken of their saliva. “It’s how you grab cells for DNA to see if there is a bone marrow match,” she said. DeSimone called the stem cell drive “very successful,” considering the limits on who could volunteer. She was also grateful for the additional 22 volunteers — many family members of school staff — who came to her house later for the mouth swabs. “This will increase our chances of a match,” she said. DeSimone estimated it will take two to six weeks to get the swabs processed and discover if there is a match.