Kennedy students’ project in memory of fallen soldiers

CEDAR RAPIDS - A lone tree at Kennedy High School's Cougar Commons will be the center of attention Wednesday.

Kennedy graduate Laura Barnett planted the tree in 2007 as a memorial for the soldiers who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“My last day of my high school career was spent playing in the mud, planting this tree,” says Barnett, now a student at Iowa State University.

Three years later, Brad Eveland, Tom Henry and Daniel Wasta decided to raise funds to purchase a large rock to place near the tree and secured a donation for a plaque, noting the significance of both.

Both the tree and the rock are part of a community service assignment in Kennedy social studies teacher Patrick Cory's classroom. He has his Advanced Placement students complete a community service project every year.

Students work alone or in groups on a project that benefits their community in some way.

“I want to give my students an opportunity to be part of their community, not just take from it,” Cory says.

After planting the crabapple flowering tree, Barnett cared for it throughout the summer of 2007 so it would survive after she left for college.

“I've seen the tree, but I wasn't aware of any meaning attached to it,” Wasta says.

But after Cory shared Barnett's project, and her dedication to it, with Wasta and Eveland, “We thought ‘OK, we'll be the class to finish it,'” Wasta says.

The pair decided a rock and a plaque would be the way to go.

That's when Henry got involved.

“I knew someone in Palo who sold rocks that fit what we wanted,” says Henry.

The trio had to raise money to purchase the rock, sold to them at a discount, then transport it to Kennedy.

“We drove probably 20 miles per hour from Palo to Kennedy,” Eveland says.

Then they had to get it off the trailer attached to Henry's truck. Three teenage boys pushing a large rock, weighing several tons, off a trailer makes for a good story. So does a senior girl dressed in her finest digging in the dirt on her last day of school.

But those are just stories. The result, the students said, is what's important.

“There's not a big sign that says ‘We did this,'” Henry says. “The plaque doesn't have our names. It honors the soldiers. That's why we did this.”

Nearly four years have passed since Barnett first planted the tree.

It was about a year ago that Eveland, Henry and Wasta decided to finish what she started, although they hope the memorial is never truly finished.

“Maybe in another four years, more students will want to add something,” Eveland says.

“The tree inspired me,” Wasta adds. “I hope it will inspire them.”