Classmates, Strangers Join Hands to Mourn Student
With a light mist falling from a grey sky, hundreds of students, teachers and community members gathered at North High School at a vigil for Kendall Foster.
Few places are fuller of life than an American high school. Last fall the President of the United States came to this one – North High – because it has been so alive of late. But death came to school yesterday instead of one popular student.
Campus is an unlikely place for a mourning vigil but it served that sad purpose Thursday night when a grief-stricken community came together in support of one another and the family of sophomore Kendall Foster who was shot to death on Wednesday in the neighborhood where he lived.
A light drizzle fell on the tight knot of mourners gathered outside the school but there were more tears than raindrops. Portraits of Kendall were illuminated by flickering candles. Pastors led the impromptu congregation in prayers. Classmates who knew him well joined hands with strangers who knew nothing more than seventeen is too young to die.
Teaching and learning come in many forms. So really, where better than school to remember someone who will be missed there by so many?
May the peace that Kendall rests in now forever come in time to his family and friends. And may others find lessons in his life and death.
