Hanau American Middle School officials dedicated the school's greenhouse April 22 in memory of Beverly and William Whitaker, two retired teachers who were killed in an auto accident last summer.
The Whitaker Memorial Greenhouse started out as a storage area until 1991 when William Whitaker and former assistant principal, Jim Lynch, converted the area behind the school into a winter garden, said Lynch.
The two retired Department of Defense Dependents Schools educators were killed July 21, 2004, in a four-car crash in North Carolina as they were traveling from Florida to Virginia to attend their son's wedding, according to news reports.
The couple had been married for five years when they accepted positions in Germany at Frankfurt American schools in 1972. From 1981 until 1989 Beverly taught physical education and William taught biology at Hanau High School, and from 1989 until they retired in 2003 they worked at Hanau Middle School as a guidance counselor and life science teacher, respectively.
"In the time I worked with the Whitakers it was easy to see how much they cared about the kids by how much time they spent with them," said Randall Wall, middle school science teacher. "Day in and day out we wonder if we are accomplishing anything, but the Whitakers were a shining example of the value of what we're investing in."
"On behalf of the students I would like to say that they cared a lot about us and set us up for success," said Kyri Bye-Nagel, a student.
Harry Nazario, Ralph Henderson and Willie Bristow, Army and Air Force Exchange Service managers in the Hanau area, donated new plants to the greenhouse for the dedication ceremony, said Lynch.
Over the past year friends of the Whitakers raised money for a scholarship fund, and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority will award $9,000 in scholarships to DoDDS students May 15.
Wall said the school also plans to plant two trees in memory of the couple.