In a solemn but brief ceremony Monday evening, students and staff of Traverse City West Senior High School dedicated a Memorial Garden in a quiet corner of the school's grounds.
Situated behind the school's music wing, the garden honors four students and a staff member who died while part of West High School. Students were David Yahr, Adrian Morris, Christan DeWitt and Shane Kelly and staff member Carol Bowman. A brick honoring each is part of a pathway in the garden, which also includes flowers, decorative stones, trees — including a Japanese Maple — and stone benches. A large rock next to the brick pathway bears a plaque reading "In Loving Memory."
Principal Joe Tibaldi spoke briefly about the garden's history and mission. Parents and family lit a candle in memory of their lost loved one, placing it on their family member's brick. The ceremony concluded with five members of the West High School band playing "Amazing Grace," directed by conductor Pat Brumbaugh.
"It was really nice that they did this," said Sharon Yahr, who son, David, died in 1999 at age 15.
The families of Adrian Morris and Christan DeWitt, who died in an August 2004 car accident, attended to honor their daughter's memories.
"It's very comforting," said Janice Lautner, whose daughter Christan died at age 16. "She was wonderful, the most caring person and she never talked bad about anyone."
In addition to honoring deceased Titans, the Memorial Garden also gives students a place to reflect during difficult times or rekindle memories of good times.
"The garden is just a place for students to sit and reflect on their friends or anything else that's bothering them," said Tibaldi. "It makes them think that they do need to take time to reflect and doing it in a beautiful setting helps a lot."
The Memorial Garden has been a two-year project spearheaded by students, with school student councils adopting the garden as their project for the past two years. These student leaders conceived of the project, raised money and solicited donations to create it and helped coordinate the work.
"We just wanted to acknowledge the families and students who've passed away and let them know that their children are remembered," said Soren Nielsen, a senior and class president. "This side of the school is pretty quite."
The physical labor of creating the garden has headlined the school's annual Campus Beautification Day both this May and last. This annual event allows all students to participate in a variety of grounds maintenance and improvement projects. The 2006 Campus Beautification Day, held last Friday, focused the efforts of hundreds of students who together finished the Memorial Garden.
"All the plants, mulch and tearing up of the sod was all done by the kids," said Margaret Goeman, a language arts teacher at the school who coordinates the Beautification Day projects.
The community also stepped in to help, with Brian Zimmerman of Four Seasons Nursery providing his design expertise to students last year. Students followed his plan and blocked out and landscaped the main section of the Memorial Garden before the end of the 2005 school year.
This spring, Meijer gave the project a needed boost by donating $3,000 worth of shrubs and plants. These items allowed students to finish the landscaping planned for the corner of the building that defines the space.
"I'm really proud of the fact that this is student and faculty led," noted Tibaldi, adding for the assembled families: "Your children from here on and forever will always be remembered as Traverse City Titans."