Public School 250 youngsters were among the beneficiaries of the legacy of a 9/11 bookworm from Oyster Bay, who told her family on the eve of the terror attacks that “there was more to life than making money.”
Students were presented with new, gift-wrapped books from the Brooke Jackman Foundation during a literacy celebration at the Williamsburg school, 108 Montrose Avenue, to honor what would have been the pretty Columbia graduate’s 30th birthday, and to hail her “deep love of reading.”
Jackman parents, Bob and Barbara, and siblings Erin and Ross helped hand out the books, which were distributed through the school’s St. Nicholas Neighborhood Preservation Corporation. They also participated in a read-aloud alongside approximately 100 families, followed by a birthday cake celebration.
Jackman had been working at Cantor Fitzgerald, which occupied the 104th floor of the northeast tower, when terrorists struck on September 11, 2001, killing two thirds of the broker’s workers.
In 2004, her alma mater, Theodore Roosevelt High School, dedicated a memorial garden for Jackson, featuring a statue of a child reading, with the inscription, “In memory of Brooke Alexandra Jackman, who had a deep love of reading and a profound interest in helping children. Her kindness, beauty and intelligence will always be remembered.”
Since its inception in 2001, the family-run foundation has touched thousands of children and families with its literacy programs.
“Brooke had decided to apply for graduate school for social work. So, we’re doing what she didn’t get to do,” said Erin Jackson.
