Late Cobb County Teacher Honored

in Kennesaw will be honoring the life of one of their teachers, who spent 30 years in education before succumbing to cancer, with a memorial science fair and Easter egg hunt on Saturday.

Jane Ann Matthews, 51, who was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, died on March 21. She was a tireless educator who strove to implement new technologies in her three decades of lessons to Pre-K students.

“She was a very strong educator and very much loved,” said Kavitha Erathara, franchisee of the Goddard School in Kennesaw. “I visited her every day in the hospital, and every time I had 100 or 200 get well cards for her.”

Matthews spent 20 years at The Goddard School in Kennesaw. At a recent Pre-K graduation ceremony, a current Goddard instructor brought in an old photograph of her receiving her Pre-K diploma from Matthews.

The affect of Matthews' death was felt throughout The Goddard School's community, with many feeling as though they had “lost a grandmother,” said Erathara. In a show of compassion and solidarity, Goddard parents raised $8,000 to cover the funeral expenses of Matthews, who had no life insurance.

To honor Matthews' lifelong commitment to education, The Goddard School will be hosting the Jane Matthews Science Fair and Spring Egg Hunt on Saturday. The fair, which has been named after Matthews, a tireless advocate of the event, includes over 25 Pre-K students' projects revolving around the theme “Nurture Our Earth.” In addition, the school will be hosting a fundraiser at the fair to raise awareness and money for cancer research.

A memorial event will take place before the fair kicks off at 10:30 a.m. Students will be placing items into a time capsule to be buried beneath the window of Matthews' classroom, and Matthews' husband and mother will be on hand to dedicate a bench that sits outside her classroom in her memory.

Following the fair, where such projects as “Why is there so much pollen in Atlanta?” and “The effects of an earthquake” will be on display, there will be an Easter Egg Hunt. Children under three and children over three will be split into two groups to find the goodies hidden throughout The Goddard School's playgrounds.

Other educational institutions are also honoring the life of Matthews. Chattahoochee Tech, where Matthews went to school, has created an award to honor her memory.

On her deathbed, Matthews was the inaugural recipient of the Jane Mathews Award of Excellence in Early Childhood Education, which will honor an Early Childhood Education student who has made a commitment to academic excellence and to the families and children he or she will soon be teaching.