Honor Karyn Lombardo with a Memorial Bench at Bret Harte

My name is Samantha Benson and I am the current President of the Fundraising Committee at Bret Harte Elementary School.

As you all know, the end of this past school year was hit with an unthinkable tragedy when we lost a longtime member of the community, our beloved kindergarten teacher, Karyn Lombardo. Of a career that spanned thirty-three years, thirty of those years were spent educating, nurturing, and loving the kinder kids that walked the halls of Bret Harte. I’m sure you can imagine the void that was felt the last few weeks of school as we adjusted to life without her in her classroom, walking through the hallways or dancing along with the other teachers during the Spring Dance.

The Fundraising Committee is reaching out to the Burbank and Bret Harte communities to help us install a bench on the front yard at Bret Harte Elementary underneath what was Karyn Lombardo’s kindergarten classroom windows, with a plaque dedicating the bench to our beloved teacher’s legacy.

So many people in the Burbank community have had their lives touched by her in some way, both big and small, and we as a school community - along with a blessing from Karyn’s husband, Vince - feel that this would be a beautiful, tangible way for our students, parents, and Bret Harte families from years past to remember her by.

On behalf of the Fundraising Committee and the Bret Harte Community, I thank you for your support!