Thanks to a little bit of creativity and a lot of love, Erika Binns will be forever memorialized at Darlington School. This fall, Middle School teacher Kevin Ivester created a photo mosaic encompassing over 300 pictures of Erika, which now hangs outside the School Store.
One month after Erika’s death last May, Ivester received a letter from her mother, Susan. While looking through her daughter’s things, Susan Binns had come across a page in Erika’s journal that listed her “favorites.”
“Where it asked who her favorite teacher was, Erika wrote ‘Shner,’ which is a nickname that her sister Katie’s class gave Mr. Ivester a couple of years earlier,” said Binns. “It was a nickname that Erika’s little group continued. I am not sure if Shner was passed along to the next classes, but all I ever heard was Shner, not Mr. Ivester.”
Binns made a copy of the journal page and sent it to Ivester, who had taught Erika sixth-grade math. Touched and flattered, he wrote back to Binns to share memories of one of his most special students. Along with his letter, Ivester sent a CD of photos he had compiled. “I scoured my mom’s yearbook computer at school for every picture I could find of Erika during her three years at the Middle School,” he said.
This began a correspondence that would touch both Ivester and Binns. “The love Susan has for Erika just jumps off the pages she writes, and I wanted to create something beautiful and unique so that Erika’s memory would live on at Darlington,” said Ivester.
He decided on a photo mosaic, which is one large picture that is formed from hundreds of tiny photographs. Binns got right to work, scanning literally 300 photos of Erika throughout her 16 years. These images, along with those Ivester had already pulled, fill the 800 frames of the mosaic, and, when viewed at a distance, create one large picture of Erika.
“The mosaic presents a history of Erika’s life in pictures,” said Binns. “The large picture that Mr. Ivester used was taken by Timmy Pakron (’05) in the spring of 2004. This is the picture I carry with me when I travel. It seems to capture Erika’s personality and certainly captures the essence of her smile, which was stunning. I did not know that Mr. Ivester had chosen this image to build the mosaic around until I saw it, and that was emotionally overwhelming.
“Many people, some of whom did know Erika personally, told me how much they looked forward to her smile when she walked through the halls or around campus,” she continued. “And apparently she smiled a lot. Mr. Hendrix did not know her by name, but when the call came about her accident, he found her picture and he said he knew her immediately as the girl who always smiled … All in all, I think most people will remember her spunk, her energy and her ability to squeeze the most out every moment. Whenever anyone looks at the pictures in the mosaic, I hope they will remember these things about her.”
Ivester had two copies of the mosaic printed and framed – one for Binns and one for the School. “Erika was one of my favorite students that I have ever taught,” he said. “She had this perfect little face that everyone loved. I want her beauty to remain in Darlington’s memory, and I think this mosaic will do that.”
Binns said Erika would have loved it, especially since it came from “Shner.” “Erika honestly didn’t know how much people cared about her, so I think she would be very touched by the sentiment,” she said. “Mr. Ivester is a wonderful person and an example of what is wonderful about Darlington. He deserves recognition for his compassion and love for his students, especially this little girl with big eyes and a bright smile.”
