Correspondent photo / Russell Brickey Family members, volunteers and well wishers joined the teaching staff of Robinwood Lane Elementary School to dedicate a memory garden Tuesday afternoon.

BOARDMAN — Family members, volunteers and well wishers joined the teaching staff of Robinwood Lane Elementary School to dedicate a memorial garden Tuesday afternoon.

The garden is located on the north side of the school by the building’s front door. It contains five stone markers that bear the names of Michael Ferenchak (student); Amy Carkido (school nurse); Anastasia Weaver (kindergarten student); Sam DiGiacomo (employee); and Nathan Kinderdine (student).

A decorated stone butterfly sits in the middle of the display surrounded by a red gravel walkway. A concrete bench donated by M&J Crown sits to one side. The walkway is surrounded by hosta plants and shaded by a cherry tree donated by Petitti Garden Center. Other donors included Always Vinyl & Aluminum, Boak & Sons Roofing and the Robinwood PTA.

“A lot of people took part in making this garden as beautiful as it is today,” Robinwood Principal Billiejo Johnson said during her dedication speech. “Every time anyone walks into this school, their hearts and their memories will be here for everyone to see.”

Candice Wright, a reading center teacher at the school, released a box of small brown butterflies into the sunlight to commemorate those who were lost. A ribbon-cutting ceremony followed.

Labor and materials for the garden were provided by Second Nature Landscape Services.

Tony DiGiacomo, who owns Second Nature, a family business, lost his son, Sam DiGiacomo. Sam attended Boardman Schools and then worked for the system in the media and information technology departments. He died at the age of 28.

“It was a healing process. It’s a great tribute,” Tony said of working on the garden. “It’s life. It’s living. It’s just a great memorial of the memories and of the people that we lost,” he said.

The school had difficulty finding a landscaping company that would do the work, Wright said during her dedication speech. “We actually gave up calling around, trying to find someone to do the job for us,” Wright said. “I made one more phone call, and I called Tony, and within days he was out here measuring, planning, telling us he would do it, and he stuck by his word.”

Staff watched through the school’s outside cameras everyday as the DiGiacomo family worked “without breaks, they worked on the weekend,” Wright said, “so we could get it in before our first snowfall. We call Tony and his family our Christmas miracle,” she added. “I’m sure that Sam (Tony’s son) is smiling down at his father as he completes his labor of love.”

Many of the staff were there to honor the memory of Weaver, a kindergarten student, and the school nurse, Carkido, who died within 10 months of each other in 2023. It was a difficult and traumatic time for everyone in the school, Wright said.

“Our staff members were very close to her,” Wright said of Carkido. “She was very funny. She had a great sense of humor. The kids would often want to go to the nurse’s office just to sit and hang out with her, so it was a big loss when she left us way too early.”

Wright had known Carkido for many years. She taught Carkido’s twin sons in her kindergarten class, Wright said, and both boys are now in high school.

“(Amy) was here in and out everyday even when she was in pain and through her cancer struggle to make sure that these kids had what they wanted,” Johnson said. “She even stayed after school to work in the after-school program so that she could be here for these students. She touched so many of us.”

“The garden is absolutely tremendous, and thank you to the community, not only for the garden but throughout tough times, for the family, friends, siblings, the Boardman community really rallied around us, particularly the teachers and staff at Robinwood School,” said Joe Pratt of Boardman. Pratt is the grandfather of Anastasia, who died suddenly. “They did an awesome job. I thank them all.”

“The garden represents all of those who we lost,” Johnson said. “And it is just a reminder that they have affected us all in such a positive way and this is our thank you to them for leaving us with just such big hearts and just to give back for everything they gave to us.”

Wright remembered the difficulty of losing first a young student and then a dedicated nurse in such a short period of time.

“We needed something positive to come out of it,” she said.

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