Groundbreaking at Merion Elementary Pays Tribute to a Groundbreaking Educator

As it turned out, the weather was a little disappointing, but definitely appropriate.

On Tuesday, as spring rain fell steadily outside, the faculty and students of Merion Elementary School gathered in the auditorium there to formally “break ground” on a new school garden, to be situated behind the school’s playground.

The children, like the adults, were mostly clad in green, blue, or brown—a nod to Earth Day, just around the corner on April 24. The student body sang, and fifth graders helped out with the ceremonies, pitching a little soil, reciting an Earth-themed poem, and reading a short bio of the man who inspired the garden, Dr. Marvin Gold.

Dr. Gold, who passed away last year, was a 26-year veteran teacher and principal at Merion, retiring in 1996. He was a pioneer of the “open classroom” philosophy of teaching that literally tore down walls between classrooms, giving children more freedom and experimenting with new teaching methods, such as letting kids from different grades mix. The concept never fully caught on and Merion Elementary went back to a more traditional curriculum, but Gold was always known as a visionary and a mentor of mentors.

“It would’ve meant quite a bit to him,” said Jane Nadelson, Gold’s stepdaughter, about the garden and its dedication in his honor. “Plants, and gardening, and anything living was his second love. It’s so fitting they are dedicating a garden in his honor, a place where children can sit and look at things growing, and have some quiet time.”

Garden as Theater

Joining the event was Sara Pevaroff Schuh, a landscape architect who is the founder and principal of Salt Design Studio in Bala Cynwyd. Schuh drew up the garden as a contemplative area as well as one in which Merion kids can help each other learn about gardening.

“I designed this garden that really plays off the notion of this ‘open classroom,’ and Dr. Gold’s interest in the theater, and I called it ‘Theater in the Garden,’” Schuh told the assembly. “We hope that we can go ahead with it very soon.”

Merion Elementary Principal Anne Heffron told Schuh that she skillfully knit together a collective creativity from suggestions made by students and teachers. “You did a beautiful job with several designs which the teachers had looked at, and you really captured Dr. Gold’s essence, in terms of what he loved and would want for this school,” Heffron said.

The ceremonial first shovelful of ground soil—a gold shovel was never so fitting as on this day—had to be from a wheelbarrow brought into the auditorium because of the rain.

“It was a tremendous surprise when the principal called and said they wanted to do this,” Nadelson said after the ceremony. “He was obviously very attached to the children and interested in the school.”

Nadelson was joined in representing Dr. Gold’s family by her brother, David Shapiro, and his wife Bertte. 

­­­The Gold Standard in Preparedness

After his death of cancer last year, Dr. Gold was remembered as a progressive educator, but also as a hero because of his actions in the wake of a deadly mid-air collision in 1991 that brought a helicopter and a small plane down on the school’s property, killing U.S. Sen. John Heinz.

The accident occurred at recess, and two Merion first-graders were killed in the crash and another was critically burned. Four others in the aircraft also lost their lives.

The 20th anniversary of the disaster quietly passed just last week. “Something like that always feels like it was yesterday,” Nadelson remarked.

“He was amazing, and he surprised everyone,” said Nadelson, who was close to her stepfather but did not herself attend Merion Elementary. “He obviously was the person who could take charge. He was so calm, and so focused on finding out where every child was, immediately. I think he definitely was responsible for saving lives and keeping the casualties as low as they were.

“It was tragic, but it did show some holes in preparedness, and he went on to help many other schools prepare for many different types of disasters. Other than the normal fire drill that everyone goes through—and they think is never going to happen—after that day he said, ‘It’s going to happen sometime, so you better be ready, and be ready calmly, so that everyone can be safe.’”

Dr. Gold is already honored in another prime spot at the school—the library, dedicated in his honor upon retirement in 1996. A portrait of the man and a plaque hang in the hallway by its entrance.