The faculty, staff, students and alumni of Dobbins Career and Technical High School on Wednesday, October 28, dedicateda plaque and a scholarship fund in memory of Mary Katherine Ladany, a beloved, 23-year-old mathematics teacher who was killed in August when a tree limb fell on her as she jogged along a wooded trail in Fairmount Park.

            Ms. Ladany had started her teaching career at Dobbins during the previous school year and planned to return to teach at the school this fall. During the memorial service, her mother Patty Ladany said Katie missed her students over the summer and was looking forward to returning to Dobbins in September.

            The Dobbins Memorial Committee presented Ms. Ladany’s parents, John and Patty Ladany of Montclair, New Jersey, with a faculty photo from the 2008-09 school year, the first and only year their daughter taught at Dobbins.

Students, who organized the event alsong with a committee of teachers and staff, read original poems, serenaded the Ladany family with a capella performances and cried and hugged family members during the program. Students spoke of her quiet nature that still could command authority in a classroom full of teens and said she had inspired them to do well, enjoy math and set a goal of going to college.

        To her family, Shintel Savage, said, "Not only was she your family. She was ours."

    A permanent memorial plaque was unveiled by students, and a memorial scholarship fund, begun with a contribution from the Dobbins Alumni Association, has been dedicated in her name for excellence in mathematics. Scholarships will be awarded annually to graduating seniors, said PFT Building Representative Connie Jackson. Contributions may be send to the Katie Ladany Excellence in Math Scholarship Fund, c/o Memorial Committee chair Carolyn Monson, Dobbins High School, 2150 W. Lehigh Ave., Philadelphia, PA, 19132.