At P.S. 58, parents, teachers and other members of the Carroll Gardens community are coming together to honor the life of a 9-year-old student, who died from cancer back in 2024.

Eliana's school is turning grief into growth – one seed at a time inside a memorial garden.

It’s been a therapeutic process for both of the teachers who remember Eliana as the bright young girl she was.

Her two siblings still attend the same school and were joined by their close friends to help share a piece of their sister with everyone else.

"For me, it’s keeping her memory alive for her sister and brother,” said Bethany Hatheway, a teacher at P.S. 58 who currently teachers Eliana’s younger brother. “Her family, the school community, the teachers, just honoring her life.”

"I still remember her coming to the space with a big smile,” said Julie Criniere, Eliana’s former teacher. “We always said that she had sort of sunshine in her smile. She was a very special student."

The school says the garden will also serve as a quiet space for students to read and reflect on the fifth grader, who always brought sunshine to their day.

It also plans to create a library corner in Eliana's memory, filled with books she loved to read.