New garden honors beloved Wrightstown teacher

September 1, 2016

By Ed Byrne The Brillion News

WRIGHTSTOWN – Tucked away in the middle of the playground next to the Wrightstown Elementary School is a quiet garden where kids can read.

In fact, that’s the whole idea behind the Budding Reader’s Garden, which was dedicated last Thursday.

It honors the memory of Darcie M. Budd, a WES teacher who died on November 13, 2012, after a three-year battle with brain cancer. She was only 36 years of age, and left behind her husband, Mike, and their children – Jake, Caden and Rylee.

Darcie’s mother and step father, Sharon and Jim Kresl, are from Hilbert.

The Budd family belonged to Faith United Methodist Church in Brillion.

The garden is a five-sided patio of textured concrete with permanent benches and plantings of several small trees.

Thursday’s dedication was the end of the project to create a living memorial to Darcie Budd.

Two of Darcie’s teaching colleagues – Shannon Skaletski and Jen Eichmeier, led the ceremony and were on the committee spearheading the project.

“We’re pretty excited that it will be a place where teachers can come out with their classes and where kids can read at recess,” Skaletski said.

Wrightstown Superintendent Carla Buboltz described Darcie Budd as a “champion.” Budd was an elementary special education teacher and Grade 4 teacher.

“From the moment I met Darcie, she was a champion for her students. They were her children and she advocated for them,” Buboltz said. “I never saw her give up on a student, even when they’d given up on themselves.”

Nearly everyone at the dedication recalled Darcie’s smile, easy sense of humor and positive attitude.

Please see the complete story in the September 1, 2016 edition of The Brillion News.