There are only eight evergreen bushes, four shrubs and about two dozen short logs that form the makeshift amphitheater on the north side of Oakton Elementary School.

Fourth-grade teacher Marcay Washington hopes to add more to this arrangement eventually, but for now the small memorial to her former pupil Darrius Laws will have to do.

Washington and other teachers at Oakton, 436 Ridge Ave., have worked for months to build a memorial garden for Darrius, who drowned in a hotel pool in January.

“We are almost out of money,” Washington said. “But we wanted to at least get something into the ground to show we are doing it.”

Darrius was one of her most passionate pupils, Washington said.

“I’m trying to remember what was said at his memorial, because it was all right-on,” she said. “He was a person who was interested in learning about others who had struggled and succeeded. He was a really likeable kind of guy.”

Darrius was 10 when he drowned during a birthday party on Jan. 28 at the Howard Johnson Hotel, 9333 Skokie Blvd. After the incident, witnesses told police that Darrius said he was swimming to the deep end of the pool to search for something.

In some ways, Washington — who had Darrius in her homeroom and math classes — said she still is coping with Darrius’ death.

“Every day I drive by (the hotel) on my way to work,” she said. “Sometimes I just want to go in and look at the pool.”

In the spring, Washington attended a meeting organized by Keep Evanston Beautiful for Evanston/Skokie School District 65 teachers who tend gardens at many of the district’s schools. Oakton did not yet have a garden, so Washington and other teachers decided to build one for Darrius.

Wendy Green, who taught Darrius in her reading class, helped coordinate with the pupils a Krispy Kreme Doughnuts fund-raiser that raised about $1,000 for the garden. Washington obtained a $300 grant from Keep Evanston Beautiful, which also helps support many D65 gardens.

The city of Evanston provided logs cut into short sections, and some parents have donated flower bulbs for planting. But until they raise more money, the teachers must wait to finish the memorial.

Washington envisions the finished garden as a rustic amphitheater surrounded by trees, bushes and flowers. She hopes classes will meet there on warm days “to write, to read or to do scientific investigation.”

Green said a garden that will help children learn fits well with Darrius’ attitude. She said that just a few days before he died, she thought: “Wow, this kid has a lot of empathy, he’s so respectful. He wants to learn.”

“The world is not going to be able to enjoy him as an adult,” Green said.

Before her pupils arrived the morning after Darrius’ death, Green rearranged her room to make the empty desk less noticeable. But the situation was still difficult for the children to grasp, she said.

“I lost them for a good three or four weeks there,” Green said. “Kids didn’t know what they were feeling. Within two weeks, we all fell apart.”

Some pupils missed an entire week of school while they tried to deal with Darrius’ death, she said.

“Nobody sat in Darrius’s math desk,” Washington said. “The kids just made that decision.”

D65 sent a crisis team of counselors and psychologists to help the pupils cope with the loss. In addition, Washington and Green set aside class time to allow the pupils to express themselves.

Darrius’ classmates decorated his locker with messages and drawings, and they also wrote letters to Darrius and his family.

“I’m sorry about your son Darrius,” one letter began. “Darrius used to help me with my class work, and I knew him since third grade. I felt sad when I heard about him. But I know wherever he is he’s having fun.”

Another letter read: “I’m sorry what happened to Darrius. I’m sad all my teachers are sad because he was the best one in the class.”

Washington and Green have compiled the letters and some of Darrius’ best schoolwork into a book they plan to give to Darrius’ grandmother when the garden is dedicated.

But because of the lack of sufficient funds, Washington is not sure how soon the dedication will occur. She recently spoke to the Oakton Parent-Teacher Association about the unfinished memorial and hopes the group will kick in some money, she said.

“We are in it for the long haul,” Washington said.