Tree planting honors a local boy

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Neighbors | Submitted.A tree planting took place at Austintown Elementary School on April 23 to honor former Woodside Elementary School student, Jamie Price.

A tree planting ceremony took place on the front lawn of Austintown Elementary School on April 24 in memory of Jamie Price.

Price was a second-grader in the 1980’s at Woodside Elementary School, which has since been merged into AES.

Price’s parents, Tom and Kathy, were present for the ceremony. Others in attendance for the event included Jamie’s sister, Stephanie; his aunts, Mary Owens and Pat Garasic of Austintown and Corrine Price of Boardman; and other friends of the Price family.

Elliott’s Garden Center in Boardman donated the tree, a Crimson King Maple.

Mel Culp, director of maintenance, was instrumental in organizing the event.

AES principal Thomas Lenton said in his opening remarks that many children in the future would enjoy sitting under “this special little boy’s tree” once it has grown.

A special guest at the tree planting was Pete Morabito, former principal of Woodside Elementary School. The Price family said that Morabito and his staff went to extra lengths to help Jamie during his illness — something they will never forget. After Jamie lost his hearing, his second-grade teacher, Maryann Pfund, went to the Youngstown Hearing & Speech Center to learn sign language. She then taught it to his classmates, so they could communicate with him.

The Price family noted the performance by Diana Powell and Chrissy Pezzuolo’s first-grade students, who sang “This Day of Peace,” as a highlight of the ceremony.