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Eulogy by Bill Scattaregia Upper school teacher, Kentucky Avenue School (KAS) It was the summer of '02 ; a rug was pulled out from under our feet. John, Karen and other members of a small core group scrambled through those long summer nights, attempting to rebuild something where hope had been torn down. We had legal eagles, financial hotshots. We had years of classroom experience, but the state licensing bureau was not please with our physical plant. Many offered advice; John offered expertise in codes, regulations and zoning. He had a vision of how the new school should look, and the practical skills to implement that plan. When disagreements arose in the core group, John was there to steady the ship, to offer a reasonable word, a sensible alternative. KAS opened that fall, cramped, limping delicately through the first year. The next summer brought a wave of construction; phase I, he called it, which John designed and directed. Like a crazed reaper, he led us through demolition of the old space, where he put his considerable skills to work. Two spacious classrooms, bright and functional, a brand-new ventilation system, and a vision becoming reality. We could breathe again. The second year brought a new director, with whom John worked seamlessly, and the summer again found us toiling away in that subterranean space, building this time - phase II. Mornings would find me on the golf course, or in the garden... I'd show up shortly after noon and there John would be, happy as a pig in slop, sweating, humming to himself, pounding or drilling or sawing, teetering on a flimsy ladder, wiring, or hauling some massive object seemingly three times his own weight, having done the work of half a dozen hands in a single morning. The man was tireless. Phase II gave us two more classrooms, a lunch room and a computer lab. John put a loft in one of those rooms; I think he needed to do it just for the sheer pleasure of the doing - the very loft where his son Ken spends every available free moment. This past summer John installed a kitchen for the lunch program, redid the art office and built a tiny classroom. Working in the space he built is like living in John's head. Let us vow to help the school live up to his dream - to be a place where his sons would be comfortable, appreciated and allowed to become what they can become. All this tearing down and building up, the vision, the energy, the dedication, bringing light in a dark, stale place... John Kasper's legacy to the school which bears his name - at least half of it... KAS. |