AUBURN – Edward Little High School students this year are enjoying a new granite patio, a gift from the Class of ’66.

The patio was built in the summer and dedicated Monday night. It’s made of granite, is 16 feet in diameter, and has a cobblestone sitting area with four polished benches, said architect Ed Cormier of Harriman and Associates. “It’s meant to be a lasting reflection and sitting place,” he said.

Cormier helped design the patio, which can be relocated if a new school is built.

Class members recently celebrated their 40th reunion and brainstormed about what they could do to help their school, Cormier said. “Jane Ham and a bunch of other people approached me.”

It’s hoped that the patio, valued at about $5,000, will promote friendship and be a nice place to reflect. It’s doing that, said Principal Jim Miller. Students are using the patio “before and after school. And art classes are using it to do drawing,” Miller said. The patio is near the front entrance. Students can see fields on one side and people coming and going on the other, Miller said.

In addition to Ham and Cormier, other project committee members include Chip Foye, Allison Kern Rosenblatt, Peter Goranites, Gene Benner, Jeff White, Nancy Day and Paul Pelletier.

“They did the heavy work and pulled from the whole class,” Cormier said.

The Class of 1966 had 425 when it graduated. Foye, a senior vice president at Banknorth, said class members hope their gift will encourage others to help a school they used to attend.

– Bonnie Washuk