Lost students honored through Skyline remembrance rock
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IDAHO FALLS — “You may be gone from our sight but you are never gone from our hearts.”
Those are the words students at Skyline High School chose for a memorial to honor students who have died while still in high school.
The Skyline remembrance rock was placed before summer break on the corner of Pancheri Drive and Grizzly Avenue, but landscaping work around the memorial continues this summer.
Terry Layland, a local philanthropist and former student, was instrumental in installing the memorial at the school. He tells EastIdahoNews.com the memorial is not just about students who have passed away, but for anyone who is missed.
“The whole community can hopefully get some good out of this. That’s what it’s for. It became bigger than just a monument for the students that were lost,” Layland says. “But because of the students that we’ve lost, is why it’s here.”
Layland was inspired to pursue this project because of students who have died in the recent past. He wanted the families of these students to know they are not forgotten. Wanting to honor all in this effort, the etching on the rock contains no specific names.
The rock depicts the outline of a Grizzly bear with the bone structure of a constellation. Layland says students were a major part of the design process. Student body officers played a large role in the wording and design.
“I wanted them to be part of it and they were a big part of it,” Layland says. “It just turned out wonderful…and I hope they’re very proud of it because they should be.”
Former Skyline Athletic Director Bill Cairns says he appreciates Layland having the foresight to make this memorial possible. Although the rock doesn’t have an official name, it’s being referred to as the “Bear Rock” or the “Rock of Remembrance.”
“Student body officers who were involved in the project with (Layland) were really ecstatic about it,” Cairns says.
They’re gone but not forgotten,” Cairns says about students no longer at Skyline. “We appreciate all the contributions for everyone who’s been there at Skyline, and the contributions they continue to make.”
There are other landscaping projects in development on the campus as well. The bleachers that are in between the baseball field and memorial will soon have a concrete platform with a roof overhead. The roof is being installed for handicapped or elderly patrons to have a safe place from fly balls during games. Layland says a walking path near the memorial is also in the works.
“There are so many great people out there, that’s what made this possible. This is a community, I’m just the fund gatherer you might say,” Layland says. “I do it for the kids. I’d knock on any business or door if it could help the kids.”