October 23, 2025 — The sun poured across Maize Road on a golden autumn afternoon, glinting off the bright shirts of Maize Elementary School students as laughter floated through the crisp air. Students and staff from Maize marched in a cheerful parade down the sidewalk, each carrying a handmade card or small gift. This was not for recess or a field trip, but for someone special.
Just a few doors down, longtime neighbor Nellie Berry Stanley stood on her front porch, smiling in disbelief, as the joyful crowd waved and cheered from her front yard. For nearly 70 years, she had lived beside the school, watching generations of students come and go. Now, as she prepared to move from the neighborhood, the entire Maize community gathered to return the kindness she had shared with them for decades and say goodbye.
“It was very heartwarming. Thanks from the bottom of my heart for all these years,” Berry Stanley said. “I watched the school being built. It was just an open field when we moved here.”
When Berry Stanley and her husband bought their home in 1957, the land beside it was empty. She remembers watching the first walls of Maize Elementary rise from the ground and seeing the quiet street transform into a lively place filled with children, laughter, and the everyday rhythms of a growing community.
Through the decades, she waved to students walking to school, threw back countless balls that rolled into her yard, and became a fixture of the neighborhood, known as someone who always had a smile and a kind word for the children who passed by.
“The children have been a lot of entertainment over the years,” Berry Stanley said with a chuckle. “They’re just real heartwarming little people. Very honest.”
Earlier this fall, Berry Stanley sent a heartfelt letter to the staff and students at Maize Elementary. She wrote that what she would miss most was the children from Maize who brought her joy every single day.
“The children of Maize have given me many years of friendship and enjoyment,” Berry Stanley said. “The students have always been friendly and kind to me.”
Berry Stanley’s letter quickly made its way around the school, touching teachers, staff, and students alike. What began as a simple note of thanks soon turned into a schoolwide gesture of love. Students began writing cards filled with drawings, memories, and messages of gratitude.
The school’s counselor, Mackenzie Reeves, credits PEAK (Positive Efforts for Adjustment and Knowledge) Teacher Cynthia Shay for helping organize the special walk to Berry Stanley’s home. The intention was that every student could say goodbye in person.
“It’s really incredible to see how much of an impact our youth has on the community, even when they don’t know it,” Reeves said. “It’s also really cool to see the impact that the neighborhood can have on our students. Our students are all very sad to see Ms. Berry Stanley leave, and they’re going to miss her so much.”
Children stood on Berry Stanley’s front lawn, excitedly clutching bright envelopes and colorful drawings as Berry Stanley stepped outside. Along with an entire school of children outside her front door, she was also greeted with a bouquet of flowers, a Maize Elementary t-shirt, and an assortment of delicious treats and desserts.
Fourth grade student Londyn Carey said she’ll never forget the look on Berry Stanley’s face.
“We walked to her house, and we gave her cards and stuff,” Londyn said. “She was happy, she was shocked, like she didn’t know that we were coming. It made me happy, and it made my day better to see her smile.”
For classmate Julian-John Fultz, the moment was just as special.
“My favorite part was giving her my card. She was excited to get it,” Julian-John said. “It’s cool that she gets to see all the kids playing and having fun.”
The visit lasted only a short while, but the memory will live much longer for Maize Elementary and Berry Stanley herself. As students waved goodbye and began their walk back to the school, Berry Stanley stood at her porch, holding her flowers and reading the first of many cards she received that day.
“It’s moments like these that remind us what community really means,” Maize Elementary Principal Tiffany Genton said. “Our students learned that kindness doesn’t have to be grand; it just has to be genuine.”
Maize Elementary showed what makes Columbus City Schools so special: connection, compassion, and the power of simple gestures. For Berry Stanley, it was a farewell she’ll cherish forever. For the students, it was a lesson in gratitude, empathy, and the kind of neighborly love that turns a house into a home.
As Berry Stanley waved one last time to the children she’d watched grow up over generations, she smiled and remembered that a part of her heart will always be with Maize.
