Headstones and Hockey Players: Students Study Legacies at Woodlawn

A cemetery may not seem like the most exciting field trip, but throw in a professional hockey player and the day might come to life.

Sixth-grade students from the Urban Institute of Mathematics (Bronx I.S. 317) visited Woodlawn Cemetery Wednesday as part of Woodlawn’s Student Leadership & Legacy Program. In partnership with retired pro hockey player Ron Duguay, the program cultivates students’ leadership skills by having them connect to the legacies of historic figures buried in Woodlawn.

“It gives all of our students an opportunity to do something that goes beyond the classroom,” said John Grebe, a teacher at I.S. 317. “What the Legacy Program’s trying to do is help them build those life skills and gain confidence and become leaders.”

It also is one of many recent initiatives to establish Woodlawn, a national historic landmark in the north Bronx, as a tourist destination like Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery.

“Cemeteries aren't always a sad place,” said Barbara Selesky, Woodlawn’s Director of Marketing. “There's lots of history to learn, and they're coming to love the cemetery, you know, even just the beauty of it.”

Students squeezed into a classroom at the back of a mausoleum, clutching photographs of Madame C.J Walker, Robert Moses and other Woodlawn notables, waiting for a trolley to take them on a cemetery tour.

The program is structured like a hockey game, with three periods. First, Duguay and program staff visit the school to introduce students to the project and help each person choose a Woodlawn notable to research.

Next, students visit the cemetery and have a chance to see where their historical figures are buried.

“When they see it, and they come face to face with it, they become a part of history. It becomes a little bit more personal,” said Deborah Claudio, the parent coordinator at I.S. 317.

The program culminates with a presentation in which students share their research and reflect on what their own legacy might be.

Using professional athletes as mentors helps reinforce the concept of teamwork , said Jordan Fernandez, one of the program’s educators.

Duguay got involved with the program through a former New York Rangers teammate.

“I've always felt like my legacy was more about my body of work, versus: Who am I as a person? How much am I giving back?” said Duguay, who now works with students every month, sharing his experiences and helping them identify their own strengths as leaders.

“They’re looking to be inspired by something,” said Duguay. ”When they come here, they do a story on a certain person who's done really well. They start to realize, my goodness, if they can do it, I can do it.”

Duguay’s advice for students: “Like yourself.”

The program started in 2017 with just one school partner. Since then, it has spread to more than 30 schools, recently expanding into Manhattan, Yonkers and Westchester.

As a resting place of notables like Miles Davis and Celia Cruz, Woodlawn is an ideal place to teach students about legacy.

“There's over 350,000 people buried at Woodlawn,” said Elizabeth Cooney, Woodlawn’s coordinator of educational programming. “And every single person has a story.”

The program’s larger goal is to cultivate the next generation of leaders. Grebe said he sees Legacy students coming out of their shells and taking on leadership roles within the school.

“Now they can go on to their high schools as someone who's confident that they have the social and leadership skills to really start making a difference,” said Grebe.

This is the lesson Cooney hopes students learn from their Woodlawn legacies.

“I hope that students know that what they do is important, that the decisions you make are important,” said Cooney. “There are little things that lead to greatness.”

Back in the classroom, students ate lunch while giggling over Duguay’s 1979 Sassoon jeans commercial. Once the laughter subsided, Duguay asked students, “What would your friends say about you after you’re gone?”

One by one, students described their sense of humor, their loyalty, that time they helped a friend.

“A lot of them don’t realize that they have already started their legacy,” said Fernandez.