In Greek mythology, the minotaur stalked the convoluted corridors of the labyrinth, and only the ball of thread Ariadne gave to Theseus saved him from being lost forever after he destroyed the monster.

No bull-headed beast stalks the circular paths of the labyrinth at Linworth Alternative School; instead, it was designed for a peaceful, meditative walk and to memorialize Linworth students who have died, said teacher Rick Bensman.

"The labyrinth is a complete circle and the paths are circular," he said. "There is no set number of turns, because labyrinths come in various sizes. Once in the center, a person can stop and reflect, then walk slowly back out through the pathways."

Bensman said the journey to the inner circle of the labyrinth represents "a journey to our inner selves."

"It can actually represent anything you want it to," he said. "I suppose it could be compared to a walk in the woods, or to meditation. The first time I walked a labyrinth was with an OSU class, and I was skeptical about it.

"I did find that after the first time, it really did help to calm the mind, and sometimes things that are tucked away can be thought about more carefully," he said. "Sometimes, it is just a peaceful time to slow down."

He said the labyrinth is not a maze.

"They are quite different," he said. "A labyrinth is a circular path on the ground. The path is walked slowly and quietly and leads to the center circle. After a pause, the walker then leaves the labyrinth in the same way.

"A maze requires thinking and a solution to complete it," he said. "A labyrinth has one way in and one way out."

Bensman has taught a peace class at Linworth for several years.

"Students have determined that if one does not have personal peace, it is hard to be a peacemaker with others, so part of our class deals with personal peace," he said. "Three years ago, the class spent a Saturday at a peace conference at OSU. I knew there was a labyrinth near Lane Avenue, so we went to see it."

The students were impressed with the labyrinth and thought Linworth would benefit by having one, he said.

"On July 1 that summer, a junior in the class, Colin Canty, died suddenly while with his family," Bensman said. "It seemed to us that it would be a good idea to build the labyrinth as a memorial to Colin and also to former students and staff connected to Linworth that have died."

Students began raising funds for the project, and Linworth parent Denise Gualtiere, a professional landscaper who owns Inspiration Landscape Design, stepped in to design the project free of charge.

Another parent, Glenda Overbeck, a professional fundraiser, volunteered to help raise money for the project. Bensman and teacher Ron Pilatowski also received a $1,968 grant from the Worthington Educational Foundation to buy landscaping plants.

Gualtiere said she'd never designed a labyrinth.

"I did a lot of research on hundreds of labyrinth designs and studied the one at OSU, but that one is a bit more complicated and not one we could use to get the scale we wanted for the paths," she said.

Gualtiere said she came up with a simple circular path that students and volunteers built by putting pavers on edge to form the lines of the labyrinth, using crushed limestone for the paths.

Almost all the work was done by hand by students, staff and parents, Bensman said.

"The labyrinth circle is about 40 feet in diameter," he said. "Surrounding the circle is a garden area, so the entire project covers maybe a fourth of an acre. Bricks, stone, soil and plants were the materials used. What we are missing is metal, but we plan to install two or three donated memorial benches."

Gualtiere said the project "is about 95 percent complete."

"We want to put in memorial pavers, and the Canty family donated an eagle sculpture that will be put in the center with a memorial plaque," she said.

The project was landscaped with native plants.

"It's designed to have something in bloom most of the year," she said.

Boy Scout Nathan Hanes, from Troop 332, volunteered to design the information board at the beginning of the labyrinth as his Eagle Scout project, she said.

Gualtiere's children -- her son Anthony, who just graduated from Linworth; daughter Genevieve, a junior this fall; and Justin, who attends Phoenix Middle School; also helped with the project.