Several dozen people gathered at the James M. Bennett High Memorial Garden Wednesday afternoon (Oct. 1, 2025) for the rededication of the garden that is now a quarter-century old. Its importance as a place of reflection for the extended JMB community was reinforced by the ceremony, led by Memorial Garden advisor Cassidy Feeney (JMB 2014 graduate).
Originally located between the A and E classroom wings of the old James M. Bennett High, the Memorial Garden was carefully preserved in 2010 when the old school was demolished following the opening of the new one. The JMB Memorial Garden now stands in front of JMB, easily accessible to the school community and the public from the auditorium parking lot.
Jake Day (JMB 2000 graduate), the Maryland Secretary of Housing and Community Development, talked about how he was asked, as a member of the Class of 2000 and an aspiring architect, to design a memorial garden. It was his senior year at JMB and the request came from the Student Government Association, which wanted a way to permanently honor and remember three Class of 2000 classmates who had passed.
The project had the support of a number of adults including a favorite teacher, Doug Greiner, and then Principal Donna Donohoe (later Superintendent of Schools Dr. Donna Hanlin).
Addressing the JMB Concert Choir students who were at the ceremony to sing the Alma Mater Wednesday, Day reminded them that they can also leave their mark on the school if there’s something that is important to them. “You can leave your mark on this school, on this community, and you can do it in a way that honors your time here and the people you’re here with. I encourage you to do exactly that,” Day said.
County Executive Julie Giordano presented a recognition certificate to the school on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the JMB Memorial Garden: The recognition read, in part, “For a quarter of a century, it has served as a place of reflection, comfort and peace — a quiet space where our school community can gather, remember, and find strength in the legacy of those who have gone before us.”
Speakers shared insights into the importance of such a place for quiet contemplation and remembering those who have passed. Some shared stories of the three Class of 2000 students — Lori Sterling, Jessica Smith and Adam Travatello – whose tragically shortened lives were the inspiration for the garden’s creation. Their names are on newly installed plaques at the base of the crape myrtle trees that were planted in their honor back in 2000.
Others stepped forward to represent students and staff lost more recently, six of whom are honored with new bricks to be added to other remembrance bricks installed in the garden walkway over the past 25 years. The six new brick dedications were for Hope Bowers, Bruce Johnson, Alton Deal Sr., Doris White, Nebiyou S. Talley and Devynn Skinner.
Ms. Feeney presented a white rose to the families of the JMB Memorial Garden’s first three honorees as well as to its six newest honorees. Principal Dr. Christel Savage provided closing remarks, thanking everyone who made the 25th anniversary rededication of the garden so meaningful and pledging the school’s continued commitment to preserving the Memorial Garden as a place for reflection. She thanked JMB alumnus Bruan LeCompte for his volunteer upkeep efforts in the garden.
“It’s important that we all come together to keep working on our garden. Things are growing and maturing and blooming” all the time, Dr. Savage said. Time spent in the garden among the memorial plaques and bricks is a reminder that, “Once you’re a Clipper, you’re always a Clipper.”
For questions about the JMB Memorial Garden, please contact advisor Cassidy Feeny, cfeeney@mywcps.org.
More on the JMB Memorial Garden 25-Year Rededication Ceremony:
- Video: Remarks by Jake Day (designer of the JMB Memorial Garden while a senior at JMB in the Class of 2000)
- WBOC News: Memorial garden rededication remembers students lost 25 years ago
