Students at Broad View Elementary will have a new place to study and a way to remember a teacher who died in the spring of 2005.

A local Boy Scout troop spent the early part of the week installing concrete benches in a wooded area located at the edge of the school’s playground.

The 11 Boy Scouts were busy Tuesday morning mixing cement and placing molds at the bases of each bench. They were placed in a semi-circle pattern and can be used as an outdoor classroom by students.

The benches are in a woodland garden that serves as a memorial in honor of Karen Mathews, a Broad View Elementary fifth-grade teacher who, along with her husband, died when their small plane crashed south of Oak Harbor in April of 2005.

“I know the kids will be thrilled to go out there,” said Joyce Swanson, principal at Broad View Elementary School.

The boys from Boy Scout Troop 4097 decided on installing the benches as a community service project.

“I just wanted to do something meaningful that everyone would appreciate,” said Nick Olson, who rounded up fellow Scouts to install the benches.

The new benches are the latest in a series of projects students and volunteers undertook to develop the memorial.

Volunteers have worked developing a woodland garden and outdoor classroom to honor Mathews. Students last summer and volunteers this summer planted native plants in the garden. A father who has a child attending the school is mowing the inside of the garden. Several families installed an irrigation system and dripper to water the plants. Swanson said Diamond Rentals was also helpful in loaning equipment needed to complete the project.

“Over time there have been a lot of people who have helped with this space,” Swanson said.

While the Boy Scouts installed the benches, Broad View Elementary’s PTA purchased the benches and supplies needed to install them.

One of the classes this fall will work to label all of the plants.

Then, in September, a dedication ceremony is scheduled at which Mathews’s daughter, Kyla, is expected to attend.