A Canby High School senior is leading the rehabilitation of a memorial garden at Ninety-One School this month as part of his Eagle Scout project.
Jacob Palacios, a member of Troop 194 and former Ninety-One student, said he was inspired to rehabilitate the garden, which is dedicated to the memory of fallen student Kayla Campos, after seeing how overgrown it had become in the wake of the pandemic and school closures.
“I wanted to make sure future Ninety-One students could have the same experience as me,” Palacios told the Current. “The full scope of my project is cleaning out the raised beds and the walkways between them, removing the blackberry bushes, cleaning up the memorial garden and replacing the trellis.”
Palacios led several weekend work days earlier this month and will continue to work to achieve his goal of returning the garden to a functional learning space for students and the community.
He also hopes to locate and uncover the memorial marker and other tributes to Kayla, a 12-year-old Hubbard resident who was struck by a car and killed on Highway 211 near her home on August 4, 2011.
The garden is located at the northeast corner of the school campus, at 5811 South Whiskey Hill Road in Hubbard. To contact Palacios about the project, email jpalowo2004@gmail.com.
It has been a busy start to his senior year for Palacios, who was also in the spotlight last month during the 2022 National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Palacios was selected to play bass clarinet in the National FFA Band — the second year in a row that he had secured the honor.