SOLON — Zachary Engrav passed away in a car accident on January 30, 2012. He was only five years old, on his way to school that morning. His Kindergarten class, who are now seniors, were devastated by his passing. In his memory, the class planted a tree in his honor at Lakeview Elementary School. Each student and parent in the class received a black and orange wristband stating, “Zach Engrav” and “Forever Friend.” Ashley Hummel, Jamison Grimm, and Elizabeth Iverson were all students of Zach’s class when he passed. Their junior year, they were each inducted into the National Honor Society at Solon High School and, for their senior project for NHS, they knew that they needed to honor Zach since he would be graduating with them. Through a lot of deliberation, they decided that they wanted to resell bracelets similar to the ones they received at the tree planting along with a pin that stated, “Up in the stars, but forever in our hearts.”
The girls reached out to Elite Sports, a custom printing and embroidery company in Williamsburg. With their help, the girls were able to make their designs for the pins and the bracelet into a tangible product which they could then sell. Over the course of their last two weeks of their senior year, they sold their products to the school and the community. Any senior student in Solon who purchased a pin and a bracelet were put into the drawing for a one-time scholarship using the extra proceeds that the girls made when selling.
In addition, they reached out to local organizations to help fund their project. The Solon American Legion Freedom Riders, the Solon American Legion Women’s Auxiliary, the Octagon Club, and other kind donors of the Solon community helped make their project possible. After two weeks of selling and the donations, the winner of the Zach Engrav Scholarship was drawn by his mother, Amy, on May 17. The Solon senior who won the scholarship was Kassidy Lietz who will be attending Iowa State University this fall. The scholarship ended up being $813 thanks to those who purchased and donated to the project.
Not only did the project incorporate the selling of the bracelets and pins, but the girls reserved a seat for Zach at graduation. They each took a turn on the stage, speaking about how important he was to them and the community and how, no matter where they go, they know that Zach is always with them in their hearts.
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(From left) Jamison Grimm, Elizabeth Iverson, and Ashley Hummel spoke at last month’s graduation about their friend and fellow classmate Zachary Engrav, who was killed in a car accident in 2012, their kindergarten year. The trio arranged for a seat to be reserved in his honor among their fellow graduates.