It came to my attention in June that one of my students from my 10th grade class two years ago (which translates to the graduating class of 2010), was shot and killed.
I do not have much to say, but I wanted to at least give a moment to mention and honor my memory of Leo Lopez. Although not a good student, and I had him removed from my class because of behavior, I will never say that Leo was a bad kid. For the most part, my students never are.
I am sorry for his violent death, which for all intents and purposes, was completely impersonal, which is perhaps the worse kind.
Many condolences to his family, to the family members who I knew of, his mother and his older brother.
This is really tragic. Every time we lose a student to violence, we have to stop and ask ourselves if we are doing enough to prevent it. It’s a sad commentary that this happens with so little notice at Roosevelt.