After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Rockport High School teacher Kathy Hilliard planted an idea in front of the high school when she created a peace sign out of flower bulbs.
That was just one of the many ways that the art teacher has tried to reach out to the students.
She has influenced hundreds of students over the past three decades. And one of them was Laura Wood, who took Hilliard's idea of a peace garden and grew it into something much bigger over this past year, in part, as a way to honor the teacher who had changed the course of her life as a teenager.
Unbeknownst to Wood, then a high school senior, Hilliard entered a piece of the student's artwork into the Boston Globe Scholastic Art Awards for which Wood won a Silver Key for the state in multimedia composition.
"That was what I needed — direction and focus. I knew to take that and do something with it," said Wood, now a mother of three children. "Mr. Ramsden's eyes (her guidance counselor) just lit up that Monday morning when I walked in and told him 'I think I'd like to go off to college.'"
She went on to earn her bachelor's degree in interior design from Wentworth Institute of Technology.
A year ago, Wood, a Rockport High graduate of 1996, had bumped into Hilliard. During their chat, Hilliard mentioned that she needed bulbs for the "peace garden."
"And I thought to myself that we are going to do so much more than just bulbs," said Wood.
The next day Wood saw an ad for the Rockport Cultural Council, to which she submitted an application and won a grant of $353.
"That was the beginning. Then I met with Superintendent Sue King and she smiled on us," said Wood. "With the backing of the superintendent and the cultural council, I started firing away with phone calls and letters."
In the end, a 36-foot by 24-foot plot of land near the high school cafeteria now boasts a renewed peace garden with a bench surrounded by engraved blocks, including one from the PTO that shares a quote from Abigail Adams.
At times in high school, Wood said she felt like an outsider, having moved to town as a high school freshmen.
"If we help one student through this project, then we have succeeded," she said.
"I hope to reach out to students and give them an outdoor space that embraces them and offers a place to become centered and focused in their very busy school day. If I can make a student, especially one who feels like the outsider, more welcome and calm, then the point has been achieved."
One of her favorite moments in the creation of the garden happened in the spring when two sophomore boys were planting a tree. One middle school boy, on his lunch break, asked if he could help.
"He was so eager to get outside, collaborate, and complete a hands-on task. So I put him to work with the sophomores," said Wood. "That's when I knew we were doing the right thing here. Afterward I told Kathy, now I know why she likes to teach."
Wood said connections have been established through this project. A recent ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in which community members gathered with students at the garden. Students drew colorful pastel peace murals on the cement at the entrance to the schools. There was music and a butterfly release.
"Let whatever may grow out of this project come to be. May we inspire others through our efforts here on Cape Ann," she said.
Gail McCarthy can be reached at gmccarthy@gloucestertimes.com
Donations received included labor, services, funding, materials, equipment and volunteers. Contributions were received from Rockport residents, as memorials, businesses and organizations. Donations were received from businesses and individuals outside of Rockport; including the communities of Gloucester, Ipswich, Danvers, Peabody, Beverly Farms, Boston, Salem, Montague, and Pembroke, Massachusetts.
Those who helped were: The Rockport Cultural Council, The Rockport P.T.O., The Rockport Garden Club.
In Memory of: Helen V. Mann, Roland MacCallum, Barbara MacCallum, Burton H. Wood, George W. Cunningham, 'Galley Mike' Parillo, Robert W. Callahan and Linda Weiditz.
In Honor of Tarek El Heneidy, a peace activist
Businesses: The Tuck Inn B&B, High Parker Design, Araneo Landworks, Granite Design by Anthony, Rockport National Bank, Dr. Jonas Gavelis and Bonnie Slyvester, Granite Savings Bank, John J. Walsh Insurance Agency, Seamless Gutters & Roofing, Jim Ketchopolous & Sons, Wolf Hill, Northeast Nursery, Inc., The Home Depot; Danvers East, Louann Wright Design, Cynthia Curtis Pottery, Cape Ann Chimney & Hearth, Stop & Shop, J. Raymond Smith, Ace Hardware & Lumber, The Cape Ann Beacon, The Gloucester Daily Times.
Rockport Families and individuals: Cathryn Clark & John Gates, John Peter & Andrea Dunn, Susan & Peter
Andersen, Joan N. Schaefer, Bill & Michelle Elwell, Susan & Tim Collins, Carl O. Johnson, Robert F. Callahan, Kerry & Ingrid Keating, Tina Ketchopolous, Christopher H. Wood, John & Barbara Sparks, Margo Flowers, Bonnie Lou Johnson, Phillip Worden, Christina Rhodes and Don Petit.
For more on the garden, visit http://www.peacemeditationgarden.blogspot.com.
Building the garden
Donations for the Rockport schools peace garden have included labor, services, funding, materials, equipment and volunteers.
Among the contributors were: The Rockport Cultural Council, The Rockport P.T.O., The Rockport Garden Club.
Donations were offered:
In Memory of Helen V. Mann, Roland MacCallum, Barbara MacCallum, Burton H. Wood, George W. Cunningham, 'Galley Mike' Parillo, Robert W. Callahan and Linda Weiditz.
In Honor of Tarek El Heneidy, a peace activist.
Business contributors: The Tuck Inn B&B, High Parker Design, Araneo Landworks, Granite Design by Anthony, Rockport National Bank, Dr. Jonas Gavelis and Bonnie Slyvester, Granite Savings Bank, John J. Walsh Insurance Agency, Seamless Gutters & Roofing, Jim Ketchopolous & Sons, Wolf Hill, Northeast Nursery, Inc., The Home Depot; Danvers East, Louann Wright Design, Cynthia Curtis Pottery, Cape Ann Chimney & Hearth, Stop & Shop, J. Raymond Smith, Ace Hardware & Lumber, The Cape Ann Beacon, The Gloucester Daily Times.
Individual donors: Cathryn Clark & John Gates, John Peter & Andrea Dunn, Susan & Peter Andersen, Joan N. Schaefer, Bill & Michelle Elwell, Susan & Tim Collins, Carl O. Johnson, Robert F. Callahan, Kerry & Ingrid Keating, Tina Ketchopolous, Christopher H. Wood, John & Barbara Sparks, Margo Flowers, Bonnie Lou Johnson, Phillip Worden, Christina Rhodes and Don Petit.
For more on the garden, visit http://www.peacemeditationgarden.blogspot.com.
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