Jean Holt was on her way to the first day of school last fall when she suffered a stroke. She pulled her car over to the side of the road and never made it to her waiting first-grade students at Mayo Elementary School, where she taught for 34 years.
She never recovered from the stroke, and the community was not only shocked by the suddenness of the tragedy, but also devastated to have lost their beloved teacher, colleague and friend.
So Leigh Woodling, a second-grade teacher at the school and the faculty adviser for the students' environmental club, wanted to find a way to honor her.
Woodling talked with Principal Steve Baran, and her Environmental Club students, and they all decided to plant a pink dogwood tree in Holt's honor.
"I worked with her the entire time I've been here at Mayo - 12 years," Woodling said. "She was one of my dear, great friends, and was a huge help to me when I first started teaching. We knew each other's families, and did things socially. It was a great loss."
The Environmental Club, made up of fourth- and fifth-grade students who work on beautifying the grounds and run the "green" school's recycling program, decided to do the planting of the tree on Earth Day, April 22.
"I think she was a very wonderful person. She always made learning a lot of fun. Having her memory here forever will be a really good thing," said Karley White, 10. Karley is one of several club members who had Holt as a first grade teacher.
Woodling also called in Holt's family - her two daughters, son-in-law and grandson, as well as her four sisters.
Monique Jackson is one of Holt's two daughters. She was inspired by her mom to go into education and is currently an assistant principal at Marley Middle School.
"This has been a very tough year for our family and Dr. Maxwell and the staff have been really great to us." Jackson said.
She said that one of the things she'd forgotten about was that her mom used to send out little notes or post cards to all of her incoming students prior to the first day of school. "She did that for about 10 years, and I'd forgotten about it until a parent reminded me at the tree planting," Jackson said.
At the ceremony, the fourth- and fifth-graders sang the song "What a Wonderful World" under the direction of music teacher Allison Haun, while the kindergarten and first-graders used American Sign Language to sign the song.
Woodling said that she, the members of the Environmental Club, and each member of Holt's family were able to put a shovelful of dirt in the hole during the ceremony.
"In first grade you learn to read, so it was very appropriate to plant a tree because teachers are the root for what you will learn," Jackson said.
Mitchelle Stephenson is a freelance writer living in Edgewater.
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