In His Honor: Belinder Elementary and Jeopardy contestants honor late teacher, Jeopardy participant

Second grade Belinder Elementary School teacher, Larry Martin, was honored on Nov. 21 at Belinder with the passing out of purple ribbons and was also mentioned on this year’s Tournament of Champions episodes after his death on Jan. 25, 2019.  

Contestants of the Tournament of Champions episode wore purple ribbons to honor Martin, who would have competed in the tournament had he not passed away. The Jeopardy producers donated $5,000 to the Fred Rogers Center, an organization that specializes in education and media for children, in Martin’s name.  

Martin’s wife Rebecca Bell and daughter Cricket Martin picked the Fred Rogers Center because of Martin’s involvement with The Marvel News, Belinder’s second grade newspaper. Martin founded the Marvel News as an activity to do with his students.  To fulfill Bell’s wish, the newspaper is still continued today by current elementary school students that were previously in his class, Angela Wondra and Jay Senter. 

Bell appreciated the thought and effort from both the school and Jeopardy team to support her family.  
“Jeopardy is an endeavor with integrity,” Bell said. “They really go the extra mile to make sure everything is fair and done well. They take good care of people…I thought it was a really impressive thing for them to do and it was a really kind thing.” 

Upon seeing the episode, teachers Debbie Neth and Jennifer Krause wanted to do the same tribute within the school. They made handmade purple ribbons and set them on a table for any staff member to pick up. The ribbons were offered to remind everyone of Martin’s kindness and work ethic.

According to Belinder’s principal, Steve Yeoman, Martin tried to give the kids a special experience while in his classroom, whether it was through special field trips or picnics. 

“He was a really consistent, kind and steady presence for staff and students,” said Yeoman. “When other families would talk about their experience in his class being a ‘Martin Marvel’, you got a whole new appreciation on the level of dedication that he showed to the kids.”

The one thing that is feared by Martin’s family and fellow staff members is Martin fading from his student’s memories. 
“It’s comforting to see that he isn’t forgotten,” said Belinder teacher Karen McHenry. “That is what upsets me sometimes. I don’t want people to ever forget him.” 

Many of the teachers keep reminders of Martin so they never forget.  

 “I still have on my DVR at home the tape of when he won [Jeopardy],” Neth said. “I haven’t erased it. I don’t know if I ever will.” 

It isn’t just Neth who keeps reminders of Larry.  McHenry still has all of his text messages saved on her phone.  

Yeomen and the teaching staff are hoping to have a tribute to him in the future other than his caricature drawing in the front office trophy case. According to his fellow teachers, the caricature is similar to the ones he would make of his students and give to them every year.  
The staff is now debating between planting a tree outside the window of Martin’s old classroom or decorating a bike rack to celebrate his love for biking.  

It is not yet decided when the tribute will be put in place, but for now there will always be a Martin shaped caricature smiling back at students from the Belinder trophy case.