The tree outside is dedicated to Austin Gerald, who was a professional educator at Kennedy Middle School. Austin Gerald taught at Kennedy from 1960 to 1983 and was a major player in the beginnings of Kennedy. The leaves from the tree are bright and alive in the spring, but as fall rolls around, the leaves turn pumpkin orange and coffee brown. One by one they slowly fall off and by winter the leaves face their cold fate, death. But as the new year comes, new life arrives. Leaves grow back on the tree and the cycle repeats. Similar to the leaves on the tree, Austin Gerald’s impact on the school will always come back and be remembered just like how the leaves fall and come back during the new year.