Did you know: Memorial Garden continues to honor ‘extraordinary’ teacher Helen Oreb

The small memorial commemorates teacher Helen Oreb who died in 1997.

Every day hundreds of students pass a small plaque in a flower bed planted with cabages on their way to the main office that reads: “Helen Oreb / for 31 years / Teacher, Mentor, Friend.”

This small memorial represents a time in the school’s history that is remembered by select few at Saratoga High.

Oreb taught here from 1965 until 1996, when she retired. In 1997, she died of cancer at age 59. The plaque and garden were dedicated in her honor.

Oreb was hired as a physical education teacher, and she soon became head of the department. Always an innovator, Oreb then became the journalism teacher and adviser. She improved the program and made it the award-winning program that continues to the present day. She then moved on to become a counselor.

In 1993, Oreb turned the continuation school called Mark Twain for at-risk students into an alternative school called NOVA.

NOVA provides a low-key, supportive learning environment for students who were not faring well at the district’s two schools. Oreb dedicated the rest of her career to the NOVA program where she inspired her students.

“Helen endlessly planted and tended seed of confidence and hope in our hungry hearts, letting each of us know that we had something of unique and abiding value to contribute to the world,” wrote Annie Jenkel, a former student and ‘1981 alum, in memory of Oreb. “She would hone in on a person’s unique qualities and relentlessly hold a mirror in front of them until they saw it and felt it.”

According to assistant principal Karen Hyde, the NOVA program encompassed what Oreb was all about.

“She was really a character,” said Hyde. “She was one of those really spontaneous, really creative people. She took things to a different level.”

Retired English teacher Genevieve Palace fondly remembers Oreb, who was her colleague and good friend, as a valuable member of the school district.

“At each place she very much liked creating a new path, starting something new that hadn’t been in PE or in journalism or counseling,” said Palace. “She liked to be an innovator. She was a very strong and courageous person.”

Oreb is still fondly remembered, and every spring someone leaves a glass of wine and a vase of daffodils on her memorial. According to Hyde, the school has no idea who does it, but this mystery visitor has been paying tribute to Oreb every year since she passed away.