Twenty-one stones lie on new bark at the north side of Greywolf Elementary, each with a name and date etched onto it.

The stones are part of the school’s Retirement Garden, a semicircle-shaped area dedicated to the teachers and faculty who worked at Greywolf and have retired.

“These stones are your stepping stones of knowledge,” said teacher Sue Gellor, addressing a group of 12 retirees and a handful of teachers and staff who gathered during an informal reception on June 5.

Gellor, along with the other fifth-grade teachers at the school, helped organize the garden as part of their students’ Service Before Self projects.

“The fifth-graders have been working on service throughout the year,” Gellor explained, adding that the fifth-grade students raised enough money to purchase one stone.

The rest of the stones were purchased by money donated by Greywolf staff and the Greywolf Parent Teacher Association. Fifth-grade teacher Jennifer Sikes’ students did the digging and placing of the stones as their culminating Service Before Self project.

For Gellor and the others, the project has been a long time coming. The school’s faculty and staff came up with the idea in 2006.

“The plan is for each retiree from now on to receive a stone,” Gellor explained. “It continues their legacy.”

Ron Dalan, Greywolf Elementary’s first principal, said he loved the idea.

“I think it’s a wonderful thought,” Dalan said.