ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, June 22, 1996 TAG: 9606240045
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
CANDICE McDEARMON will be remembered in Hurt Park's new addition.
The children at Hurt Park Elementary School will remember Candice Crizer McDearmon as they listen to a new waterfall, dig in the dirt and plant seeds.
They'll be studying in a "living classroom" where they can get away from the urban sights and sounds in their Roanoke neighborhood.
McDearmon, trained as a school speech and hearing pathologist, worked at Hurt Park early in her career. She loved the school because she enjoyed working with underprivileged children, according to her mother, Frances Crizer.
McDearmon, 42, fell to her death last year while sightseeing at a pyramid ruin outside Cancun, Mexico.
Now she will be remembered at Hurt Park with an open-air classroom that was dedicated Friday as her family and friends gathered to pay tribute.
"Candy would have loved this. It will be a real inspiration for the children," said her mother. "She loved working with children."
McDearmon was a member of the Junior League of Roanoke Valley, which spearheaded the living classroom project in her memory. The league provided $7,000 to help pay for it.
The classroom is in an opening between wings of the building.
It will provide a "hands-on environment so children can dig in dirt and get their fingernails dirty" as they learn about plants and the life cycle, Principal Gary Galbreath said.
There are planting beds for children in the third, fourth and fifth grades. Each grade will have its own bed, Galbreath said.
The classroom contains tables, benches and a chalkboard so teachers can lecture if they choose. There is a board for displaying student artwork.
The learning center also has a waterfall and pergola - an arbor with a roof of crossed rafters supported on posts.
Anne Marie Poore, chairwoman of the Junior League's Project HOPE, said the classroom was intended as a lasting contribution to the school and a permanent memorial to McDearmon.
Project HOPE is a league-sponsored after-school tutoring and enrichment program for a group of children at Hurt Park.
"The children at Hurt Park do not have the same environmental facilities as some other schools," Poore said. "We thought this would be a safe haven for the children here, a place of beauty and tranquillity for them."
Poore said Galbreath and Jim Tyree, supervisor for building operations and security for city schools, worked closely with the league on the project.
"This is exactly what I had in mind - what I thought it could be," she said.
Mary Hackley, director of elementary education for city schools, said there could be no more appropriate tribute to McDearmon than the classroom.
Hackley said McDearmon worked to try to eliminate inequities among children in different neighborhoods and economic classes.
McDearmon was married to Gerald McDearmon, principal of Fallon Park Elementary, who attended the dedication along with several other family members.
Galbreath said school officials also hope to use the classroom to encourage children to obey conduct rules and do well in their studies. Pupils could be allowed to have lunch under the pergola as a reward for good behavior or outstanding performance on a test, he said.
"The living classroom has a lot of potential, but to me, one of the best things is that it is soothing to the soul," he said. "It is an oasis within the school - a place where you can go out and sense the country and be rejuvenated."
The school will pay for the upkeep by collecting aluminum cans and selling them. This will help teach the children about recycling in addition to raising money to pay for the maintenance, he said.
"It will enable the children to approach recycling on a practical basis," he said, "to see the benefits of it and how it can provide money."
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: FDon Petersen. Family and friends of Candice Crizerby CNBMcDearmon dedicate Hurt Park's new classroom to her.