Last September New Albany High School’s (NAHS) National Honor Society (NHS) dedicated its updated Memorial Grove as a place of remembrance for students, staff and community members. The new grove is four and a half years in the making, and a wonderful addition to the learning spaces on the NAHS campus with plenty of health benefits as well.
History and legacy
For many years, Memorial Grove has served as a special place to commemorate individuals in the community who passed away. Students and staff of New Albany-Plain Local Schools, as well as members of the community, have been honored and remembered in its brick walkway.
Photo by Ken Kraemer
original memorial grove
The grove began as a senior project by Rob Donaldson, completed in 1999 with the help of fellow students, fundraising and support from the district, and donations from the community.
Over time, Memorial Grove faced serious drainage issues, forcing its caretakers to store the original bricks in a shed. While planning to mitigate these drainage issues, ideas for a new grove started to take form.
In spring 2019, the redesign officially began. Donaldson, the original student-designer and now-landscape architect, was asked to work on the project alongside the NHS and the school district team.
“It was really special to us to be able to not just have an alum help us, but to have the original student – who is now an adult working in the field that he was hoping to work in – help us design it and create it,” says Jenny Core, the advisor of NHS.
Each year, a new phase of the project took shape. From planning to fundraising to dedications, the grove became a collaborative project to hone students’ skills and build a longer legacy for the space as they found a way to bring the old and the new together.
The original bricks found a home in the new inlay design, while other efforts were taken to equip the space for low maintenance and multi-purpose use. Plants that thrive in shaded areas, specially-designed plaques, turfed ground set and a tiered seating arrangement were intentionally selected to help the space be functional for years to come.
Learning component
The new space allows a place not only for remembrance, but for rejuvenating mental health and encouraging better learning.
Photo by Patrick Galllaway
memorial grove
The new tiered seating in particular was a special request from Principal Ken Kraemer to help promote learning on campus.
“I think it’s great to have an outdoor classroom space,” Kraemer says. “It feels special. It’s somewhere you get out to the fresh air. You have an opportunity to learn in a different environment. I think that creates a really positive learning environment for students.”
Outdoor learning spaces have been proven to increase student engagement and accountability of their learning, according to the National Library of Medicine. Current president and treasurer of the NHS, Paige Cornelius and Lea Behain, attest to using the space during their study center.
“It provides a great break in the day and you’re not so overwhelmed with tighter classrooms and students everywhere. It is a really nice space of peace where I can focus and get my work done,” Cornelius says.
Photo by Jane Dimel
nahs tiered steps
The use of Memorial Grove also offers a space for students’ mental health, as the American Psychological Association reports on various studies that have shown how spending time in nature is linked to improvements in mood, mental health and emotional well-being.
“The whole design was intentional to allow people to know you’re in a sacred space where people are going to be remembered, and then it would be used for classes and stuff like that,” Core says.
“It’s a representation of what we value as a learning environment, as a school district, (and) as a community, that a space like this exists on the high school campus,” Kraemer says. “That we recognize those that have come before us, that we value new, innovative learning spaces. And to be able to have a space to go and calm yourself. It’s not always just about the learning piece. It’s about taking care of yourself as a person as well.”
NHS Officers
The new Memorial Grove is a testament to the hard work of the nearly 300 NHS students involved in the project, with 59 students on its various committees and more than 240 responsible for fundraising.
Various committees gave presentations to the New Albany Chamber, New Albany Community Foundation, New Albany Chamber Rotary, Turner Construction and other local businesses and organizations to get them involved in the project.
Between the students’ fundraising and donations to the PTO, $68,000 of the $110,000 project cost was raised, with the district covering the remaining costs.
“One of the reasons why we went to the NHS at the beginning is because we knew we had students that would be able to put presentations together, be able to present to different groups of community members and really dive into the project,” Kraemer says. “There was a big focus on what students were learning from the project as well. There were kids with us at every step of the way, really doing the work, we were more supervising.”
This year's NHS staff, including Cornelius and Behain, were largely a part of commemorating the space.
“During our speech, a lot of the families with the bricks came. We saw it firsthand. It was very emotional for everyone, but especially them, and I think that put it into perspective a little bit more about how big of an impact it has had and how much it will moving forward,” Behain says.
More to know about Memorial Grove
The space is available to all members of the community after school hours. Be sure to drop by!
Jane Dimel is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
