Plaza honors exemplary teaching

Above: The three-foot-high sculpture, The Three Rs, salutes reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic. The sculpture will be placed directly in front of the Education Building, along its southeast wing. An exact replica is located in the Fresno County Office of Education. The Three Rs was created by local sculptor Clement Renzi, who also created The Three Graces bronze that now stands in front of the Music Building on campus.

by Tom Uribes

Teachers - often unsung heroes in the lives of children - will get their day in the sun, literally, when the Gottschalks Teachers Honor Plaza is completed this fall on campus.

An honors wall and a Clement Renzi sculpture, The Three Rs, will be installed in the 4,500-square foot plaza. The plaza is located in front of the university's Education Building.

The plaza will pay tribute to exemplary teachers; their names will be inscribed on bricks set in a wall four feet high and four feet long. The thin-set bricks will be provided by donors who, with a contribution of $100 or more per brick, may choose to honor a teacher or other individual who has had an impact on education.

"If you had a teacher or principal in elementary school, or a high school counselor or college professor that you felt helped you in some way, you can have his or her name inscribed on a brick for the wall as an exemplary educator," said Dr. Robert Monke, associate dean of the School of Education and Human Development.

Additional lines of type on the $100 bricks will be $20 each. Funds will go to the school's capital campaign.

The major source of funding for the plaza is a $50,000 gift from Gottschalks, the locally based retail department store that now has national holdings. Joe Levy, chief executive officer, was on hand for ground breaking ceremonies June 17.

Also attending the ground breaking were representatives from the sculpture donors: Bruce Barnett, chief executive officer of the Educational Employees Credit Union, and Dr. Pete Mehas, superintendent of the Fresno County Office of Education.

The plaza was designed by Robert Boro Landscape Architects. Construction is scheduled to begin this month by Bob Brosmer's Landscaping Co. The contractor for the donor wall (to be built along the southwest end) has not been determined.

Dean Paul Shaker was master of ceremonies for the ground breaking.

Below: Joe Levy, chief executive officer of Gottschalks, spoke at the ground breaking ceremonies in June.

Back to University Journal, 7/20/98 Issue