Dist. 21 employee's action wins gratitude of grieving family

When 8-year-old Natasha Camporese died from a congenital heart defect in 1987, her classmates at Poe Elementary School in Arlington Heights honored her memory by planting an ash tree outside her classroom window. Through the years, the tree was a source of comfort to her family, who still lives nearby in the Berkley Square neighborhood.

"Every day, I'd go to work and pass by the tree. I'd think about that third-grade class and remember that year as really the best time of her life," said Dede Camporese, Natasha's mother. "I felt such strength and relief when I'd see that tree."

Then one recent fall day, after 27 years, the tree was gone.

"We were in the car together on a Saturday morning when my mom noticed," said Nicole Camporese, Dede's daughter. "She just said, 'Oh my God, there's no tree.'" The family pulled into the school parking lot to take a closer look and found only wood chips where the tree had stood just days before.

"I was heartbroken," Dede said. "To me, it felt like if the tree wasn't there, Natasha was never there."

Determined to find out what had happened to the tree, Nicole picked up the phone on Monday morning and eventually reached Audrey Cali in the operations department at Wheeling Township Elementary District 21. "I was ready for a fight," Nicole said. "But the moment I heard Audrey's voice, I just started crying and explained the whole thing to her. She immediately said, 'OK, we're going to figure out what we can do about this.'"

It turns out that the district's arborist had identified several trees on various school properties that were dead and posed a potential hazard to students. Those trees had been cut down in recent weeks.

But when Cali learned the significance of that particular ash tree at Poe School, she was determined to take action.

"It just tugged at my heart strings. From the moment Nicole got that story out, there was no way that I wasn't doing something," she said.

Cali started making phone calls and by noon that same day, she had approval from the District 21 superintendent to plant a new tree.

"Normally, especially in a school district, you weigh things and you weigh them again and you weigh them again. That didn't happen in this case. It was just - let's get that tree replaced. They gave me the go ahead and that was it," Cali said.

By late afternoon, landscapers arrived at Poe to measure the area and determine what type of tree they would plant.

With input from Dede and Nicole, it was decided that Natasha's new tree would be a linden.

"It was the perfect tree," Nicole said. "It's in the shape of a teardrop, which was quite fitting because we've dropped many tears for Natasha. And we loved the fact that it changes color with the seasons and has heart-shaped leaves."

Cali also was determined that this time around, a plaque would be placed near the tree so that there would be no mistaking its significance. Dede said she recalled plans for a plaque with the initial tree planting, but one was never installed.

One week later, Nicole got an email from Cali that the tree planting could take place the following morning.

Early that next day, before students arrived, Cali and the landscapers met Dede and Nicole in front of Natasha's third-grade classroom window. While the landscapers carefully planted the tree, Dede and Nicole reminisced about Natasha. Dede talked about Natasha's spirit and determination though her many health problems and how much the Poe school community had supported the family during those difficult days.

"It really was such a positive - and that's what I hoped for in the morning," Cali said. "It's nice when you can do something for somebody, when you have it in your power."

For Dede, the new tree represents a "rebirth" that has brought her even more comfort than the original tree. "When I drive by that tree now, I feel something I never felt with the other tree. I think the love Audrey showed by making this happen and the kindness of the men who planted the tree have touched us in a different way," she said. "It was almost as though they knew Natasha and loved her, too. Now, it's not just Natasha's tree anymore - it's their tree, too."

Another positive result of the new tree is that a whole new generation of Poe teachers and families will know about Natasha.

"For teachers who are there now, it was almost an urban legend," Nicole said. "Someone planted a tree for someone, but no one knew exactly who it was. Now, a whole different group of people will know Natasha's story. And we've had families that know us - who have kids at Poe now - tell us that they're going to say a prayer for our family every time they see that tree."