Doris Ward taught language arts at the Edgartown School for 14 years. It was where she worked, but it was also a second home to her. When the old school was torn down in 2003, she felt a part of her life had been torn down too. Watching the big rigs do the demolition was like witnessing a burial, she said.

Recently, Ms. Ward decided a memorial was needed that would be placed at the entrance to the new library, where the old school used to be. The memorial will be part of the walkway and include an image of a compass to represent direction and that we are all sailors on the Island, plus a circle symbolizing the library and the school, both institutions of knowledge working in concert with each other. The circle will be made of the very bricks that came from the old school, saved after the demolition, so that everyone will, in a way, walk over the old school on their way into the new building.

The project is now in the planning and raising money phase. Contributions, no matter how small, can be made payable to the Town of Edgartown, and earmarked for the Edgartown School Memorial. Mail checks to Town of Edgartown, P.O. Box 5180, Edgartown, Ma. 02539, or drop them off at the selectmen’s office.