Beautification project at Mount Olive Middle to honor late school officer
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on February 17, 2005 2:09 PM
MOUNT OLIVE -- Technology students at Mount Olive Middle School have undertaken a beautification project to honor the memory of a beloved teacher killed a year ago in a car accident.
There already is a bench in front of the school honoring the late Betty Pollock, who was an assistant principal at the school.
Now, a marker has been added bearing the name of Harriet Meek, an eighth-grade social studies and language arts teacher who was killed in March on her way to school. Students collected money to create something in Mrs. Meek's memory. They bought a fountain and plan to landscape the area around it.
Marion Carter is a technology teacher at the school and was co-advisor of the Technology Students Association with Mrs. Meek. He said every year the club does a project and this one seemed fitting.
"It's more personal," he said. "I think the impact of it will reach several of the students in the school because they still miss Mrs. Meek."
Even though it hasn't involved the entire student body, Carter said he believes that once the project is unveiled this spring it will give all students the feeling that "We haven't forgotten and we don't want to forget."
He said the project also may motivate the students to get involved in other ways of reaching out to help people.
"It's a unique learning experience," he said. "The way kids learn in TSA is unique because we pull from the academics and put it together.
"I think what we do with students when we go beyond academics is to get them to see that there's more to education than reading, writing, math and science. We have to be sensitive to those emotional occurrences because they're going to face them at some point in their lives."
Students plan to add a paved walkway and set the fountain and marker on a footing path. Shrubbery and flowers will also be planted. Concrete Specialties in Mount Olive and Eubanks' Lawn Care and Tree Service have helped with the project.