ESCONDIDO – The project started with a tree and soon blossomed into a garden. It's Juniper School's new Carilyn Gilbert Reading Garden, which was dedicated Jan. 24.
Carilyn, who died of cancer in September 2005, was a kindergarten and first-grade teacher at Juniper and also served as a school board member after retiring from teaching.
Spearheading the project was Oak Hill kindergarten teacher Joanne Dillingham, who worked closely with Carilyn at Juniper.
“Everybody wanted to do something for Carilyn,” Dillingham said. “She mentored a lot of us. The best thing about Carilyn was she loved children, and when she talked to them, she'd look them right in the eye and really knew them. She was that way with everybody. We really wanted this to be special for her because they all had that connection with her.”
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Donate books
To donate books for the Carilyn Gilbert shelf at the Juniper School library, call (760) 432-2462.
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The 15-foot-by-15-foot garden is between the kindergarten classrooms and the library.
“This is the ideal location for it,” said Juniper Principal Mark Garner. “I never had the privilege of knowing Carilyn, but through all the stories and things said about her, I really feel like I've gotten to know her.”
More than 50 people attended the dedication ceremony, including Carilyn's husband, Marv, who is finishing his wife's term on the Escondido Union School District Board of Education.
“Carilyn's favorite hobby at home was gardening, and she loved the challenge of teaching her students how to read,” Marv said.
Many other family members attended, including Marv's mother, daughters-in-law and 3-year-old granddaughter, Tessa, who cut the ribbon. Also attending were former students who recalled how Carilyn would dance on the table when she wanted to celebrate a student's accomplishment.
“She loved us like we were her own,” said Kristen Cagle, a freshman at San Pasqual High School. “When she walked into a room, she sent out a good vibe.”
The reading area was made possible by a $3,000 grant from Lowe's Toolbox for Education. In the garden are many types of flowers, a white trellis and two reading benches. Sitting on the bench was a stuffed version of Clifford the Big Red Dog.
“That was her favorite book,” Dillingham said.
Garner said the children started using the garden as soon as it was ready.
“Many of them have been out here reading or doing their homework,” he said. “We see kids use it every day.”
Last year hundreds of parents, teachers and students gathered at district headquarters to rename the building in honor of Carilyn. The Carilyn Gilbert Education Center is at 1330 E. Grand Ave., Escondido.
Book donations also are being collected in Carilyn's name to go on a special bookcase in Juniper School's library. For more information, call the school at (760) 432-2462.
Cheryl Walker: (760) 752-6761;
cheryl.walker@tlnews.net
