Clifford Pierce Middle School Remembers Staff Members in Heartfelt Memorial Garden Ceremony

Clifford Pierce Middle School Remembers Staff Members in Heartfelt Memorial Garden Ceremony
By: Contributor Last Updated: May 18, 2018

Losing a beloved friend or family member is an emotionally taxing event for someone to go through. Losing two in less than a year is undescribable. That’s how the students and staff of Clifford Pierce Middle School in Merrillville felt when two staff members, Secratary Beth Sarsfield and Math teacher Tonda Poindexter, passed away. Now, at the end of the school year, students and teachers have come together to show these two beloved members of the Clifford Pierce family that they will never be forgotten in a heartwarming display of community support and love.

“A few years ago, we started a memorial garden out front for any staff members who had passed away,” Christine Wheeler, Principal of Clifford Pierce Middle School, explained. “This year, we lost Secratary Ms. Beth Sarsfield, who had been working here for many years and passed over the summer, and then this December, Ms. Tonda Poindexter, who was one of our seventh grade math teachers, passed away suddenly. So today, we are adding memorial stones to our garden for those two who passed away.”

The idea to update the garden and place the two new memorial stones was a joint decision between three Clifford Pierce programs: the students of the Character Education class, the Young Men on a Mission program, and the Student Government. All three programs and their students worked together to fundraise and contribute to the upgrade and the upkeep of the memorial garden.

“It’s been a great collaboration and community effort to get all of our groups and students working together for the common good,” said Nicholas Petralia, Assistant Principal of Clifford Pierce. “It teaches our kids the benefits of giving back and honoring those we lost.”

As the memorial service and dedication began, students and staff gathered at the front of the school. Wheeler started off a number of heartfelt speeches thanking the large group of people crowded around the garden. She then introduced the middle school’s orchestra, who played a special selection to honor Poindexter and Sarsfield, followed by a couple of students who read poems and speeches thanking the community for the support, not only during this project, but also during this trying time.

“This memorial service is great because it shows our students that when we say we care, we really do care,” said Linda Jonaitis, A Merrillville School Board member.

After the heartwarming speeches, it was time for the unvieling of the memorial stones. Each stone, designed by local business Concrete Design Studios, was engraved with the names of the staff members and placed in a simple, but beautiful garden underneath a banner that read “Forever a Pirate.” Jonathan King, the in-school suspenion director and mentor of the Young Men on a Mission program, along with Michael Brown, a seventh and eighth teacher, had the honors of revealing the stones to the group. And when they did, there wasn’t a a dry eye in the crowd.

“We don’t want to forget those who have passed on, their achievements at the school, and the lives they have touched,” said King. “So we at Young Men on a Mission came together and said 'Let’s do something for the families,' so if nothing else, they can always come by and look at the memorial.”

As the memorial service came to a close, Wheeler, Petralia, and the students continued to thank everyone for making their way to the middle school for this special morning. As the crowd began to disperse, family members of Poindexter and Sarsfield had the opportunity to take photos with the stones and take a close look at the small, but incredibly beautiful way Clifford Pierce Middle School, the staff, and, most of all, the students paid tribute to those who have passed on.

“There is no question that the two people being immortalized today had a special relationship with the people in this school,” said Michael Berta, Superintendent for the Merriville School District. “That relationship was so special that the students and the community wanted to honor them. What better way to honor them than with something as permanent as this?”