Hundreds of students walk across campus each day. Yet, many walk past the tanbark-covered Memorial Garden next to the A-building, unaware of this significant landmark.
Around 30 years ago, Burlingame installed its first memorial plaque to honor a student who had passed away. Since then, plaques honoring deceased students, staff, and pets have been added, forming what is now known as the Memorial Garden. Despite its significance to the school community, no major changes had been made to refurbish the space.
That was until junior Savannah Carranza made a realization. Carranza said she was unaware of the garden until she did further research, noting that the plaques were difficult to notice due to dirt and a lack of surrounding details, such as flowers.
“I thought it would be important to represent the students that we lost on campus,” Carranza said. “And so when I was doing more research, I found out that we actually just had them on campus, which no one would ever even know, because all the plaques for other students are on the ground and they look like stepping stones.”
The garden’s low visibility, combined with the passing of sophomore Agostinho Mooney on Dec. 16, 2024, prompted Carranza and members of the Student Equity Council to discuss refurbishing and publicizing the Memorial Garden in October 2025.
To achieve these goals, they created plans to polish the garden cosmetically — with fences, flowers, and new foliage — and add plaques for recently deceased students, including Mooney and junior Luca Chiaro, who passed away on Dec. 28, 2025.
To sustain the garden for future generations, Carranza said she plans to create community service and college credit opportunities for students who help maintain the garden.
“We’re going to make it a long-lasting thing that the Student Equity Council can do for our campus,” Carranza said. “We’re going to try and make it like something for volunteer hours for the Student Equity Council members. I just know that in the future, Student Equity Council members are going to keep it up.”
Despite a lengthy planning process, junior Jude Penzel, a Student Equity Council member and a friend of Mooney’s, said his motivation for the project stemmed from wanting to honor those navigating mental health challenges.
“A friend of mine passed away in 2024 just before winter break, and learning about the mental health issues that he struggled with that I was completely unaware of really inspired me to help with the memorial project,” Penzel said. “If not in honor of him, then in honor of all the others who didn’t get the help they needed or deserved and met the same page as him.”
Penzel said the project aims to both honor departed students and staff and spread encouragement to check in with those experiencing mental health challenges.
“The idea would be to show people who have passed, not only to immortalize them and to remember them, but also to provide it as inspiration, to reach out to be for people who are struggling with mental health issues, which are a lot of people at this school, and they’re not recognized ever,” Penzel said. “So in making such a big part of our school, it’s a small space, but it’s a good chunk of the school, dedicated to mental health, to reaching out, to taking care of yourself. It might inspire others to do that.“
Throughout the planning process, Carranza said she witnessed the impact the recent deaths have had on the junior class and made it her goal to create a space where people can celebrate lost loved ones together.
“I just thought that something should be done, a place should be made, that people can go to if they miss their loved ones, and they can see a little dedication to them on campus,” Carranza said. “It’s really important for people.”
Currently, the project is close to finalizing its designs. With funding secured, students have designated specific vendors to help with construction. There is no finalized date for when the Memorial Garden will be fully renewed and refurbished, but the garden is expected to be finished by the end of the 2026-2027 school year.
English teacher Julian Cowan-Byrns, who has supervised the project, said completing the project is a top priority, and he is grateful for the school’s support.
“I’m really appreciative of the support that Dr. Fong has shown, Ms. Carter, the kids that have rallied behind this movement,” Byrns said. “I think that we’ve got enough funding for everything, and the dream is actually becoming a reality.”
Junior Johanna Galvin, who grew up as a close family friend of Mooney’s, said she hopes people realize the importance of the project.
“I want people to know that honoring the people that we love and taking care of them, passed away or not, is really important,” Galvin said. “And that if our community and our school specifically is willing to do this in his name and in honor of all the other students that have passed away, it also shows that we care just as much about the students who are actively living their day-to-day lives on campus as well.”
