Edwina Czajkowski, a long-time Concord educator and founder of the School Environmental Education program, is remembered in a new book compiled shortly after her death in January 2020.
The Story of Edwina Czajkowski: Building Project See was edited by Betty Hoadley, a former Concord teacher and school board member; Kathleen Mitchell, a former Concord teacher and Turkey River Basin trust member; and LuAnne Pigeon, a former Concord teacher and director of Project See. It was illustrated by Kristi Tillotson, a graphic designer and former Project SEE student.
“The thing that was always clear is that when you wait too long to write a history of something, you lose something, you lose people, you lose the personal touch, you lose the people who were there,” Hoadley said on Concord TV in February.
The book is full of those personal touches and contains a brief biography of Czajkowski, Project SEE and her influence of getting access to White Farm to use as an outdoor lab. It also includes dozens of reflections – some just one sentence quotes, others letter-length memories – from fellow teachers, students and friends and a scrapbook section of other memories. Six activities based on Czajkowski’s lessons are also included in the compilation.
“Everbody wanted to help, everybody loved Edwina,” Hoadley said.
Czajkowski’s most notable and lasting legacy is founding Project SEE in the Concord School District. She expanded in it in the 28 years she led the program and it is now over 50 years old, a rarity for programs such as it, founded by grants.
ConcordTV shared a video on the book and its making at youtube.com/watch?v=7utMC6UNrYw.
The book is available online at no charge at tinyurl.com/TheStoryOfEdwina. Printed copies are available for purchase by emailing concordinfo@sau8.org.