Today was rough for me. Right now in my English class I'm teaching Dickens' A Christmas Carol--a classic tale of forgiveness, of facing shadows, of rebirth, and of redemption.
In the backdrop of my day, I also had the news of the Sandy Hook School shooting looping on my computer live throughout my classes. I was teary for most of my day. I don't understand.
One of the things I have been stressing to my eighth grade kids is that there are always second chances, and there is always room for redemption and forgiveness.
I still believe that, although in the wake of such tragedy, it's hard to feel that truth--but I suppose it's even more important to know in times when nothing makes sense at all.
I cannot imagine the horror the teachers and the innocent babies faced as the gunman wielded his terror throughout the classrooms on Friday. As a teacher and a mother, I feel the PROTECTOR come out in me whenever I feel my own children (including my students, actually) threatened . . . and I know from the bottom of my heart-- that I would ABSOLUTELY risk my own life in order to save the lives of my own kids (I love you Chloe & Max!) and the children whom I am so honored to teach.
Today, the names of the children who died were released.
***********************************************************************************
The victims are 12 girls, eight boys and six adult women. The victims, police said, were shot up close, multiple times.
The following is a list (as released by police) of the victims in Friday's shooting spree on the campus of Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.
- Charlotte Bacon, 2/22/06
- Daniel Barden, 9/25/05
- Rachel Davino, 7/17/83
- Olivia Engel, 7/18/06
- Josephine Gay, 12/11/05
- Ana M. Marquez-Greene, 04/04/06
- Dylan Hockley, 3/8/06
- Dawn Hochsprung, 06/28/65
- Madeleine F. Hsu, 7/10/06
- Catherine V. Hubbard, 6/08/06
- Chase Kowalski, 10/31/05
- Jesse Lewis, 6/30/06
- James Mattioli , 3/22/06
- Grace McDonnell, 12/04/05
- Anne Marie Murphy, 07/25/60
- Emilie Parker, 5/12/06
- Jack Pinto, 5/06/06
- Noah Pozner, 11/20/06
- Caroline Previdi, 9/07/06
- Jessica Rekos, 5/10/06
- Avielle Richman, 10/17/06
- Lauren Rousseau, 6/82
- Mary Sherlach, 2/11/56
- Victoria Soto, 11/04/85
- Benjamin Wheeler, 9/12/06
- Allison N. Wyatt, 7/03/06
I can only believe that these babies are soaring as angels of peace, and their testimonies of life will speak to the people whose lives they touched.
God Bless Us,
Dana
No comments:
Post a Comment