Skip to content

A town square for an unsquare town

redbankgreen

Standing for the vitality of Red Bank, its community, and the fun we have together.

RED BANK REMEMBERS A LOVING TEACHER

jonelle4Toni Graham, a teacher at Red Bank Middle School, comforts student Kadajyah Smith as she chokes up during a reading for Jonelle Melton, who was killed in September. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

Just walking into the Red Bank Middle School auditorium Friday night, you could learn a lot about Jonelle Melton. She had a great big smile, loved butterflies, her favorite color was purple and, perhaps above all else, she touched a lot of lives.

And this you could figure out before anybody said a word.

As students, teachers, friends and family entered the middle school for a memorial to Melton, who was killed in September, they were greeted by a placard with butterflies bordering a picture of Melton — the same picture that was screened onto T-shirts that teachers and students inside the auditorium wore.

Those who didn’t wear the shirts chose to wear a purple band, Melton’s favorite color, on their left sleeve.

jonelle3Visitors to Friday night’s memorial were greeted by a photograph of Melton. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi)

There hasn’t been any new information on the investigation into Melton’s death, Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Peter Warshaw said last Thursday.

The night was intended to celebrate Melton’s life and all she accomplished in her time at the school. It was not, as teacher Julius Clark said in his opening remarks, to mourn. Yet the lighter tone set at the onset of the memorial, with singing and dancing that seemed to lift the audience, couldn’t mask the sadness that is obviously still deep and fresh.

The turning point came when fifth grader Jose Rojas, dressed in a black suit adorned with the purple band, stood at the microphone to recite a note he wrote for and about Melton. Then the sniffles started echoing and heads started bowing, setting off a reaction. Rojas, who courageously remained stoic for much of the reading, wound up leaving the stage covering his mouth to force back tears.

“Each time I feel myself smiling, I will think of her,” he said. “Ms. Melton, wherever you are, we will always be with you. We love you, we miss you and may God bless you always.”

Kadajyah Smith, now a high school student, said in her dramatic reading, “Phenomenal Teacher,” that aside from the every day lessons she taught, “you were able to teach us love. I love you.”

The memorial held added significance, because each February over the eight years Melton taught at RBMS, she organized many of the events and programs for Black History Month, said Mary Wyman, dean of students.

“Black History Month was really important to her, so this is really important to us,” Wyman said.

Melton had several great qualities, said John Colavita, an English teacher. She was funny, had an infectious smile and was an excellent listener, he said.

“She was engulfed in what you were saying,” Colavita said, then emulated a stare she gave when somebody would speak to her. “I’d think, ‘I did not know I was that interesting.’ And I’m not, but she made you feel that way.”

With at least 150 people in attendance, Colavita implored the crowd to remember Melton’s message of love in their daily lives.

He brought up how much Melton loved butterflies, then went on to explain the butterfly effect, a theory that the flap of a butterfly’s wings can set in motion a chain of events that can lead to an infinite amount of outcomes. And Melton, he said, was like a butterfly to everyone she met.

“Remember the change she made with one big, beautiful, bright smile,” he said.

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
redbankgreen Classics
Partyline
JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION
Performers at Red Bank’s Juneteenth community celebration Sunday at Johnny Jazz Park. (photo by Brian Donohue)      
BUTTERFLIES LOVE THE WEED
Save the monarch, plant butterfly weed. (photo and text by Partyline contributor Roseann DalPra)  
LANTERNFLY PARTY
An invasive ailanthus tree sprouting in front of the US Post Office on Broad Street is covered with invasive spotted lantern fly nymphs Wedn ...
STREETCORNER SERENADE
An Irish doodle named Cheddar listens to native New Jerseyan, singer/songwriter and former Houston resident Tom Foti, (identified in the hea ...
Red Bank 5K Fun!!!
Red Bank Classic – June 14th, 2025 (photo by Partyline contributor Adam Kaplan)  
RAINBOW OVER RED BANK
Saturday, before and after the storm that rolled through town. (photo by Partyline contributor Thomas Doremus)    
Mini Ballers Bring the Heat at Fusion Basketball School
As the temperatures heat up, so does the competition in the mini baller clinic at Fusion School of Basketball. These little tykes are intens ...
DOZENS OF PLEIN AIR ARTISTS “PAINT RED BANK”
Plein air artists take over town for first ever "Paint Red Bank" event. (click to read)
RED BANK: SIGN ON ICONIC DANNY’S STEAK HOUSE COMES DOWN
The sign hanging from the shuttered Danny's Steak House comes down ten months after a manager reported Danny's Steakhouse would be back "bet ...
FOR YANKEES FANS, GOOD TRASH PICKIN’
A collection of framed photographs of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and other New York Yankees greats was placed curbside along with a ...
RED BANK: NEW HANDICAPPED PARKING, WEST SIDE MEETING PLANNED
New handicapped parking sign West Side advocate had pressed for is installed, with meeting planned to discuss other concerns. (click to read ...
SUNSET AT SUMMER’S START
Crazy sunset clouds shot from Monmouth Boat Club on the Friday evening at the start of Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer. ...
SIDEWALK GOES FROM WORST TO FIRST
P (photo by Brian Donohue) What had been, in our estimation – and apparently in the eyes of the several people who have emailed and te ...
RED BANK: PEERING FROM ON HIGH, ACROSS THE DECADES
Roofers on the Azalea Red Bank top off the project in the shadow of a sculpture depicting another generation of construction workers who toi ...
BRICK FACELIFT CONTINUES ON MONMOUTH STREET
A million-dollar brick sidwalk makeover of Monmouth Street in Red Bank continues.
JAY AND SILENT EAGLE
A very loud blue jay squawks at an indiferent bald eagle in a treetop alongside the Swimming River in Red Bank this week. (Partyline photo b ...
PIZZA LOVING SQUIRREL SPOTTED IN RED BANK
Pizza squirrel spotted in Red Bank. (click to read)
GET YOUR MA SOMETHIN’ NICE AT THE RED BANK FARMERS MARKET
It’s a beautiful and sunny Mother’s Day for the first instance of the farmer’s market, held every Sunday, beginning in May ...
SIGN? WHAT SIGN?
Folks in Red Bank Wednesday exercising their riparian rights to access tidal waters first encoded into Roman law in 500 AD and later adopted ...
FANTASTIC MR. FOX
Partyline contributor captures photo of backyard fox.