The late Kaitlin Schaumberger’s career as a second-grade teacher at Waukegan’s Oakdale Elementary School was brief, but her inspiration will both educate the school’s students and feed the community into the future.
Oakdale Principal Catalina Quinones-Nelson said a planned building — Kaitlin’s Greenhouse — will be more than a place where plants grow, and students will learn lessons beyond how to grow and care for greenery.
“I have a vision of this as a place where the students will learn science and business,” Quinones-Nelson said. “They’ll learn how to grow food and to sell what they grow. We can start a farmers market with what we grow here.”
The Oakdale community, as well as some of Schaumberger’s friends and family, cut a ribbon and broke ground on construction of Kaitlin’s Greenhouse Thursday in Waukegan with a goal of completing the first phase of construction this fall.
Starting her career in Waukegan Community Unit School District 60 in August of 2022 teaching Oakdale’s second graders, Schaumberger died on March 10 of last year at the age of 25 from complications of COVID-19 and pneumonia. Her father, Michael, said Thursday would have been her 27th birthday.
“I have mixed emotions,” he said. “I knew this would be very emotional. I am touched by what will be Kaitlin’s Greenhouse, and how the school district is helping to make it a reality.”
Quinones-Nelson said primarily produce will be grown in the greenhouse, though there will be some flowers around it. She envisions it becoming a place not only for students, but also for the community to become involved.
“People have already said they want to come and volunteer,” she said. “This is a gift of life and learning. It’s not like a plaque. It is a gift that will keep on giving. It will enhance the community for years.”
Of the things which were important to his daughter, Schaumberger said encouraging her students to develop a healthy lifestyle was one of them. He is pleased the creation of a greenhouse to grow vegetables to feed the community will be part of her legacy.
“She wanted her students to eat healthier,” he said. “The greenhouse will help them learn how to do that for themselves and for others. This is a way she will live on and continue to spread kindness.”
Remembering the impact Schaumberger had on Oakdale and its community, Quinones-Nelson said kindness was one of her hallmarks, as was her desire to continue to give to her students and others. The greenhouse will continue her work.
“Kaitlin (would) find a way to continue to give and give to our Waukegan community, and our Oakdale community,” Quinones-Nelson said at a Board of Education meeting shortly after her death. “Keep people like this in mind. They don’t come by every day.”
One of those volunteers will be Katy Casky, Kaitlin Schaumberger’s aunt. She is a retired math teacher from Glenbrook South High School. She said she plans to tutor Oakdale students in the fall.
“This is the first place I thought of volunteering,” Casky said. “I want to do it in Kaitlin’s memory at a place she loved so much.”
Funding for the greenhouse is a private venture organized by the Schaumberger family. Michael Schaumberger said more than $80,000 of the $120,000 goal has been raised so far.
When the full goal is reached, Kaitlin’s Greenhouse will be easy to expand. Schaumberger said in the first phase, there will be electricity and running water. Donations can be made through a GoFundMe page he started or the Waukegan Schools Foundation.
“We’re building the greenhouse here,” he said, pointing to the area where construction will start. “We’ll add more next to it when we reach our goal. Kaitlin’s kindness will continue to ripple.”
