Garden is loving tribute to late teacher
Patti Jacobson recalled for her passion to teach and work with children
BY MARLENE CANTY
Staff Writer

MIGUEL JUAREZ staff Second-grader Michael Fusco reaches for a sunflower alongside classmates Ryan Leo and Jacob Kudros (center) last week when a garden at Old Bridge's Memorial Elementary School was dedicated in memory of late first-grade teacher Patti Jacobson. Students planted the flowers last year.

In a somber but uplifting ceremony last week, an Old Bridge elementary school dedicated part of its garden to the memory of a teacher who passed away last December.

Patti Jacobson, who taught first grade for 25 years, including 18 at Memorial Elementary School, was honored during the Oct. 4 ceremony by the staff and students she worked with.

"Her dedication to teaching is an inspiration to us all," said LouAnn Coletti, a colleague and friend of Jacobson.

Jacobson taught right up to the end, passing away a few weeks after she stopped working, according to Coletti, who also teaches first grade.

"I'm sure part of that was dedication, but I also think it helped her a lot to be around the students she so cared about and loved," Coletti said.

Patti Jacobson

Patti's husband, Cye, agreed.

"She was ill for a while, and her continuing to teach students may have contributed to her holding on as long as she did," he said.

Patti was a born teacher who loved what she did, Cye added.

"She had such a rapport with her students, I'm sure they will miss her," he said.

She began her career in Brooklyn, N.Y., where she taught for five years before moving to New Jersey and beginning her 18-year stint at Memorial. She also spent two years as a teacher at Strathmore Elementary School in Aberdeen.

According to Bonnie Goldman, another of Patti's colleagues at Memorial, the 4,048-square-foot garden has been divided into horticultural sections, with one for each grade level at the school.

"The kids actually planted in the section set aside for their grade level," Goldman said. First-graders planted sunflowers and impatiens.

MIGUEL JUAREZ staff Memorial Elementary School kindergartners Salvatore Tooze (l-r), Timothy Purcell, Brennan Orsucci and Dean Wiatroski sing "The Garden Song" during the Oct. 4 garden dedication ceremony in memory of Patti Jacobson.

Located in what had been a vacant cavity between the old Memorial school and a newly built addition, the garden was dedicated in sections as well. In addition to Jacobson's section, there are several honoring local veterans and paraprofessionals.

"Patti's section of the garden will be used as a reading corner," Goldman said, "a place where teachers will bring their students to read to them or have them read silently and reflect."

This, according to Patti's colleagues, is because Patti loved reading and instilled that passion in her students.

The project was funded by the school's PTA, which bought the plants. The digging of the plant beds and other landscaping services, along with one of the garden's trees, were donated by Steve Wiatroski, who owns Pioneer Landscaping and has children at the school.

Another Memorial teacher, Jan Breslin, won a $950 grant to help maintain the garden through an environmental awareness contest sponsored by the Middlesex County Division of Solid Waste Management.

That was the beginning of the garden. Today, according to Goldman, it is surrounded by a chain-link fence and kept immaculate, tended to by the children, staff and a custodian.

Memorial's teaching staff chose the appropriate flower or plant for each grade level.

The garden was the brainchild of former Memorial School Principal Kathleen McDonnell, who retired in June, according to Barbara Cook, another first-grade teacher.

"Kate set up the garden with Patti in mind," Cook said. According to Cook, McDonnell formed a garden committee to work on the project, which took two years to complete.

"When Kate first came up with the idea, Patti was already sick, but we didn't know she would pass away," Cook said.

A temporary plaque honoring Patti reads: "In memory of Patti Jacobson, beloved teacher." In the months to come it will be replaced by a permanent one in bronze.

Also, a college scholarship fund has been set up in Patti's memory.

In addition to her husband Cye, Patti left behind two sons, Evan, who is a lawyer in Washington, D.C., and Paul, who is a rabbi and lives in Australia.

Goldman described the garden as a wonderful tribute to Patti, noting that all the children feel they are part of the garden because they helped to work on it from the beginning.

"It will be a nurturing place for children to learn about plants and life cycles," she said.