This is the topic that began Mr. Nixon’s Words of Wisdom. Helping his students understand the death of one of their peers.
I had the pleasure this weekend to watch my daughter, my youngest child graduate from Physicians Assistant School at George Washington University in Washington D.C. It was one of those peak experiences in life, some call them mountain top experiences.
Often this year I have quoted Fred Rogers from the book, “The World According to Mr. Rogers.” It is a small book full of the warmth and intelligence that were such a part of Mr. Rogers’ life. This past weekend, the man who played Mr. McFeely was in Rochester at the Strong Museum.
Have you ever felt really lost? I remember, as a boy, I visited my grandfather’s farm in southern Minnesota. The corn was tall, and I was warned not to go out into the fields; but I went anyway. I got hopelessly lost and soon I began to panic. I yelled for help.
On December 13, 2002, an eighth grade student at Churchville-Chili Middle School, Brian Scipioni, died unexpectedly of meningitis. I was asked to prepare and read to an emergency staff meeting, and minutes later to the school community, a message of condolence and hope. The message I put together began a nearly nine year record of twice-weekly “Words of Wisdom,” which I wrote and delivered to our school community. Many of my messages are assembled on this website as well
We suffered a tragedy this weekend at Churchville-Chili. Two of our seniors were involved in an accident on Buffalo Road. One, Marcus Blythers, survived and remains in the hospital showing promising signs of recovery. The other, Dijon Pratt, was killed.
