Cosgriff community remembers preschool teacher

IC photo by Marie Mischel

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A dedication ceremony was held Sept. 24 for the Kim Evans memorial bench in the J.E. Cosgriff Memorial School preschool playground.

SALT LAKE CITY — The yellow balloons and big bow appeared celebratory, and indeed, Kimberly Evans would have turned 27 on Sept. 24 – the day that J.E. Cosgriff Memorial School honored her life by dedicating a bench in the pre-school playground where “Miss Kim” brought her students. However, the celebration was a memorial rather than a party for the well-loved teacher who lost her life on June 26 when she fell while hiking in Bell Canyon.

Evans “enriched so beautifully the life of this Cosgriff community with her goodness and wisdom,” said Father Andrzej Skrzypiec, pastor of Saint Ambrose Parish, in the all-school Mass that preceded the dedication. “Sometimes things happen in our world, in our lives, that we can’t understand. Why did it have to happen this way? I don’t know…. All we can do is to thank God that she was with us” for the three years that she taught 3- and 4-year-olds as well as prekindergarten at Cosgriff.

During the memorial, Evans was recalled as a very special teacher, colleague and friend.

She “had a gift for knowing exactly what to give to each student using her curriculum,” said Alison Meyer, a teaching assistant who worked in Evans’ classroom, “and when she worked with the entire class, she completely engaged them…. They just couldn’t take their eyes off her.”

Tara Brooks, whose daughter was one of Evans’ students, said Evans gave the child a gift that will last a lifetime: a love of schooling. “Kim … established a foundation that will be with her for life. We will always be grateful.”

Yellow was Evans’ favorite color, and words like warmth, fun and happiness that describe the color also fit Evans, said Cosgriff Principal Betsy Hunt. “She contributed to a positive culture in our faculty and staff,” Hunt said. “She was very positive. She was the kind of person that it was pleasure to have her here.”

At the beginning of the school year, Cosgriff administrators brought in a counselor from the Sharing Place to speak with parents about helping children deal with the concept of death, Hunt said. The students were asked to write letters and draw pictures for a scrapbook that was presented to Evans’ parents, Paul and Tammy Evans, who attended the memorial. The scrapbook also contained photos and letters from parents and colleagues.

“This will give them the opportunity to remember her in her profession, and as a colleague and friend, because they didn’t know her here,” Hunt said.

Paul Evans thanked the Cosgriff community for the scrapbook and said he and his wife would cherish it.