From Classroom to Community: Honoring Irene Rosenbaum’s Impact in Fairfax County Public Schools
- alexis10428
- 1 day ago
- 8 min read
In the weeks leading up to her unexpected passing, Irene Rosenbaum was preparing school supplies for students in Mrs. Vigorito's third-grade class at Crestwood Elementary School. It was something she had done every summer for 17 years.
That wasn’t the only thing she did for the third-grade students.
She made blankets, sewed recorder pajamas (handmade sleeves for students’ recorder instruments), baked cupcakes for birthdays, took pictures throughout the year, and gave each student a personalized photo yearbook. She also sewed custom book bags for students to use at the book fair, brought meals to families who were struggling, and helped with supplies when families welcomed babies into their homes.
She also watched several children after school to help families who needed child care and threw birthday parties for those same children.
“She probably had up to six to 10 kids come over to our house after school, three to four days a week. She always had a giving heart and just wanted to help people in any way, whether it was her children or the kids in her class,” Joey Cuda, Irene’s oldest son, said. “She would do anything for us.”
“It seemed like our house always had a group of students after school. My mom would cook dinner, throw birthday parties, and make cupcakes or cake, so we had cake more often than usual,” her daughter, Carmie Cuda, said.
Her generosity filled not just classrooms, but her home as well.
“Whenever they found good deals, they would buy a ton of stuff so they could share with different families. There was a room in our house that was just full of food items to distribute,” Carmie said.
Joey said she provided a safe space where children were taken care of, fed, and given help with homework.
“We would read with them, help them with homework. It also meant we had, like, five or six more people every day,” Carmie added.
“She just loved the kids,” Gillie Cuda, Irene’s youngest son, said. “She was totally dedicated to them. They gave her purpose after she had to retire from her government job following her stroke, and they brought meaning and fulfillment to her life.”
At the heart of everything Irene did was a simple philosophy.
“My mom was like, ‘see a need, meet a need.’ If she saw something that she had the power to do something about, she would do it, no questions asked,” Carmie said.
Irene worked at the United States Patent and Trademark Office for 20 years as a patent examiner in the mechanical arts, overseeing more than 2,000 patents issued for inventions. She was a trailblazer in her field, serving as the first woman in her art unit at the USPTO and the first employee to receive maternity leave, having worked on the negotiating team and served as the test case in 1989. Because of Irene, paid parental leave was later extended to all employees in the patent office.
In 2004, she experienced a life-changing stroke that led to her early retirement from the federal government.
Gillie said he remembers visiting her in the hospital and being told by doctors that she would never walk again. He said his mom was determined to overcome it.
“She was right-handed, and then the stroke impacted the whole right side of her body, so she had to learn to write with her left hand and become more ambidextrous,” Gillie said.
After she recovered, she began volunteering at Crestwood Elementary School. According to her children, she volunteered in Bethany Vigorito’s class — sometimes five days a week, sometimes three — for the entire 17 years she was there. She helped with anything and everything, from reading to students and working one-on-one with them to handling classroom administrative tasks while the teacher was at lunch or PE.
“She would find the kids who were struggling and sit next to them while the teacher was teaching to make sure they were keeping up and understood what they were supposed to do,” Joey said. “The better question is, what didn’t she do?”
“Irene was a cherished member of our community. She was a fixture at our school for more than two decades, and it’s hard to imagine our hallways without her. We remember her as a constant source of warmth and kindness. Irene’s dedication to our students was truly remarkable; she spent countless hours tutoring, mentoring, and simply being a supportive presence to anyone who needed it,” Crestwood Principal Francoise Casablanca said.
Even as her health deteriorated over the last 20 years, she never stopped going to the school.
Joey estimates that his mom directly impacted more than 500 children.
“My mom was relentlessly for people. She loved people, and she didn’t let anything get in the way of that,” Carmie said.
When Irene passed away unexpectedly last July, her children, all Fairfax County Public Schools alumni, knew they wanted to do something special to keep her legacy alive.
Carmie proposed including a note in the obituary inviting donations to the school in lieu of flowers.
“It felt like a better way to honor her memory, and it was more in line with what she did and would have wanted,” she said.
They arranged for donations to go to the school and asked Educate Fairfax to manage those donations. As word spread and donations came in, they decided to use the funds in two ways: create a memorial space named for Irene at Crestwood and provide a scholarship that would help one student each year pursue a postsecondary education. They chose to focus the scholarship on students who attend John R. Lewis High School because of the need in the area and because Crestwood students feed into that high school.
“It was really important because Irene worked in that community, so the scholarship was focused on students who attended Lewis High School,” Eric Kinne, manager of grants and program development for Educate Fairfax, said.
Gillie handled the room dedication, while Joey focused on the scholarship.
Gillie said he spoke with Principal Casablanca about ways to honor Irene at the school and learned there was a community space that wasn’t being used to its full potential. That sparked the idea to create a memorial space for her.
They used a portion of the donated funds to renovate the space and purchase furniture. Gillie also said they installed a memorial bench in a courtyard outside the room and plan to transplant some of Irene’s peonies from her yard to that area.
Joey and his wife, Yi-wen, worked with their stepfather and other family members to create the Irene Rosenbaum Memorial Scholarship — a $5,000-per-year award renewable for up to four years. As donations continued to come in, they realized they had enough to give to the school to help with school supplies. They designated $5,000 to the school each year to support supplies and other needs.
“My goal in creating this was to make sure my mom would always be remembered,” Joey said, adding that whether it’s helping a single student through the scholarship or several students with supplies, it’s a way to carry her legacy forward.
According to Eric, it is the largest scholarship offered by Educate Fairfax.
“It’s an annual scholarship of $5,000 for up to four years, so really it’s a $20,000 award, which is huge,” he said.
The criteria for the scholarship were character-based and did not require a strict GPA. Joey said they based it on several of Irene’s qualities: resilience, kindness, compassion, and service to others, in addition to financial need.
“The reason we picked the last two was that my mom really cared for others, and despite being in constant pain for the last 20 years, she still did all of the great things she did. That is really inspiring to me and can inspire others to keep going,” he said.
After receiving nearly a dozen applications and reviewing them through a six-person committee, John Lewis High School senior Thu Vo (also known as Tina) was chosen.
Thu said she was drawn to Irene based on who she was and who Thu hopes to become.
“I thought about her kindness and how she helped students, and I want to do that same thing in the future,” she said.
Thu moved to the United States with her older sister two years ago from Vietnam. She had to navigate a new language, education system, and culture, while leaving behind her grandmother, who had been her primary caregiver since childhood.
“I lived with my grandmother since I was very young. I see her as my mother,” she said. “Since moving to the U.S., I think about her all the time, and it makes me cry.”
Thu plans to pursue nursing because she wants to help others, especially the elderly, who she says can feel lonely at times.
She said she was surprised when she found out she had been selected.
“When I got the call, I was really surprised. I shouted and smiled all day,” she said.
“This scholarship pushed me to believe in myself — that I can do more,” Thu said. “I will continue working hard and try to become the kind of person Irene was.”
Joey said Thu’s vulnerability and authenticity, along with her circumstances, made her stand out.
“In her application, she said certain things that stood out, like when she first came to this country and how hard it was. It was the rawness and honesty that made me feel she is the type of person my mom would have connected with,” he said. “It was hard to choose because all the applicants were impressive, but I felt a real connection to how Thu thought and how my mom would have helped.”
Eric said Thu also stood out during the review process.
“She really stood out for a couple of reasons: her resilience — as an immigrant student who had to overcome a tremendous language barrier — and her kindness and compassion. One of her teacher recommendation letters highlighted how eager she was to help other students, even while navigating that barrier,” he said.
On April 27, the Crestwood community gathered to honor Irene Rosenbaum by dedicating the space in her name and presenting Thu with her scholarship. Guests included Dr. Michelle Reid, superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools, the Cuda Rosenbaum family, Educate Fairfax staff members, local and state officials and others.
“It was really powerful that eight months after she died there was still a room full of people who were there to remember and honor what she did. A lot of people came to her funeral, but to see so many people attend this event eight months after was really special,” Carmie said.
A plaque and House Joint Resolution No. 268 will be placed in the room to remind everyone of Irene’s legacy.
“I don’t want to be cheesy, but my mom was the best person I’ve ever known. She was incredibly dedicated, always made sure we understood the importance of education and helping others, and she has always been my biggest inspiration,” Gillie said.
For Carmie, an educator in Detroit Michigan, that legacy continues in her own life and work.
“It would be kind of impossible to separate the track that I'm on from my mom's path and what she did. This year I hung her picture up in my room, and I have a little note under it that says, ‘This year's for you, Mom.’ If I have a hard day, I think about her and it grounds me and helps me focus on my students and what they need. To remember to love them well first,” Carmie said.
Like the Cuda-Rosenbaum family, if you want to uplift students in our public schools and make a lasting impact in our community, make a donation to Educate Fairfax today.
