AT MID YEAR

The school has just passed the one-year anniversary of the murder of James Alenson. A few weeks ago, the school newspaper conducted a survey that revealed that most students feel they are healing; that the staff and administration did a good job handling the crisis last year; and that the tragedy should be officially commemorated or recognized (in some way) this year,

As January 19 fell on a Saturday, the administration organized a low-key commemoration for the Friday preceding.  Students were invited to come to school wearing our traditional blue/white colors and to participate in a "moment of silence" in their 10 a.m. class. On Saturday evening, students and some parents organized a candlelight vigil outside the school, with small groups coming and going, and leaving their candles on the ground. (See Dr. Ritchie's letter to students below)

In the criminal case itself, the wheels of the judicial system are slowly beginning to turn.  Everyone is hoping that healing will continue despite all the media attention that will surely ensue when the trial gets going.

Turning to other news....

On the positive side, L-S continues to rack up state sports championships at an amazing rate: Golf and girls' x-country (8th best in nation, no less!) are the latest this year. Most impressive is that L-S won another Dalton Award for the best W-L records of all teams in Division I play, not counting post-season participation. As if that wasn't enough, we also won the prestigious division sportsmanship award.

On the negative side, L-S faces a serious financial crisis, and this at a time when the national economy is showing significant strain. If L-S does not get relief through another Prop 2 1/2 override, the consequences would be severe, including staff cuts, rising class size, and cutbacks in the sports and extracurricular program. Lincoln & Sudbury town leaders are currently discussing the possibility of an override vote. There has been some very vitriolic opposition to the possibility of a tax increase, but it is hard to know how representative this feeling is. See the Sudbury Town Crier web site for more details, discussions, and denunciations.

Oh yes, the annual Martin Luther King Assembly will be a little different this year, two decades after the founding the LS MLKAP. Instead of a "big name" speaker, a number of alumni will be returning to describe how they have continued their social justice commitments after graduation L-S

One of those alums will be Jason Bello, presently at Columbia University, who was just awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford. Congrats, Jason!

MLK will be sponsoring its usual alternate February vacation, with students helping to build housing in inner-city Philadelphia. A group of students will also be heading down to New Orleans during April to do the same.

The staff was also just notified that we won our usual share of high awards for the Globe Art Show. We have always had some very talented artists at L-S.

All in all, this has been a very "normal" school year, albeit with more December snow than usual.

For other school news, please see the school newspaper, whose files are linked to this page. Again Dr. Ritchie's letter is below.

An end-of-the-year report will be sent out to alumni in May or June. Stay warm! (And if any of you find yourselves in warm climes, keep it to yourselves!)

That's about it for now,

Bill Schechter,
History Dept., Emeritus
bill_schechter@lsrhs.net

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FORUM/ THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER
http://www.lsrhs.net/alumni/forumnewspaper.php

THE NEW LS HISTORY/ CULTURE PAGE
http://www.lsrhs.net/publications/HistoryCulture/

THE ALUMNI PAGE
http://www.lsrhs.net/alumni/default.html

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Dr. Ritchie's Letter:
To All L-S  Students
A Message about this Friday, January 18

As all of you who were students here last year know, this Saturday, January 19, will mark exactly one year since the tragic death of James Alenson, which happened right here, in our school, in our family. We will be observing our one year circle around the sun this Friday, January 18, and I want to tell you what we have planned, and why.

What we have planned is intended to be simple, heartfelt, thoughtful, and sensitive. We know that people are in all sorts of different places in their recovery, and we want to send the message that it's all right to be wherever you are. You will be affirmed and supported. Some people have put these events behind them, and really need to move on. That is absolutely fine. Others are likely to have a very, very hard day on Friday, and will need a lot of support, and that is to be expected. I know I can count on all of you to be especially kind and supportive to each other; and we all need to remember that ninth graders probably won't have the same types or levels of feelings that the rest of us do. They weren't here.

In an effort to treat the day with solemnity and respect, but not plan events or activities that could make things even harder for some, the theme will be simplicity. We will not hold school-wide assemblies, or have formal ceremonies. Not because we don't care, or are too busy, but because we don't want to do things that could be very painful to members of our school, even though we intended them to be helpful.

Conference Room B will be open all day for students who want to talk to someone, or just talk to each other. You need not feel that you have to be having a hard time to stop in to Conference Room B. Maybe you just want to stop in and hug a few friends, and thank a few staff members. But if you do need to talk, or get help, it will be there for you.

Apparently (I love this) many students have connected up with each other on a plan to wear white, or something white, on Friday, white being a symbol of hope and purity. I think wearing something white is a lovely idea, but this is not a request that everyone do it. I just wanted to let you know what many will be doing. We will have small, blue ribbons for everyone in the school to wear if they wish, as a symbol of community. So, if you are wearing something white, and add your blue ribbon, there you have it: the L-S colors.

I have remarks that I would like to make over the p.a. at ten o'clock. The p.a. is impersonal, I know, but I'll try to be as human as possible.

I will be telling parents that if any of them want to come by on Friday because it is important for their own healing or recovery, or because they simply want to connect with us, the doors are open. But I am not requesting that they come to help or assist us. I am sending the same message to town officials and police. So, if you see more adults here than usual, it's because they wanted to be here, not because we needed help, or asked for a strong showing.

For those who might want to donate money to a good cause, we will be collecting funds to assist the organization that supported us so steadfastly following last 1/19, the New England Law Enforcement Council, which oversees the STARs program. Most students never got to meet the police officers from STARs who were here with us last January, but the faculty and staff thought they were just the best.

Lastly: I have realized that, for me, the one place in the universe that I need to be, or want to be, this Friday is at L-S. And that is because I know that, whatever my feelings are, however hard it is, however easy it may turn out to be, it will be safe to feel how I feel. I hope that all of you will feel the same way. And, if it would just be too hard for any of you to be here Friday, we understand.

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