It’s interesting how, years later, you can remember the precise details of what you were doing when you learned news of a tragedy. On Friday, December 14, 2012, I was on my way to the bathroom during lunch, happy that the day was almost over and that I would soon be able to catch up on some much needed sleep. A friend stopped me in the hall and asked me if I had heard about what happened “at that elementary school,” to which I replied no, and hurried to the bathroom. I didn’t care. I was tired and ready to be done with the week. Later, when I went to my history class, I figured we would talk about whatever it was that happened, but I still didn’t know what it was. There I learned that, earlier that morning, in a small town in Connecticut, a man entered an elementary school with a gun. Within just a few minutes, he had shot and killed twenty children and six staff members. My teacher delivered the details, but had little to say beyond that, except for repeating “these were little kids” over and over.
What could he say, what could any of us say? These were children with bright futures, teachers who shaped the lives with their teaching. That evening, President Barack Obama tearfully spoke about the shooting, saying we needed to take “meaningful action.” Many criticized him for not being specific, believing he should have talked about changing gun laws and trying to make schools safer and instilling programs to prevent violence, but it was hard for anyone to talk about the future and preventing tragedy after a day like this. Children, little kids, had been killed. Teachers who dedicated themselves to education were lost. What did our future look like without them? I was shaken, like many others, but I knew this could not possibly compare to how the residents of Newtown, Connecticut felt.
They continued on, like any town would, living day by day, trying to pick up the pieces. The students who attended Sandy Hook Elementary were moved to another school in a different town, since the school was a crime scene. Weeks after the investigation was over, parents still did not want their children returned to Sandy Hook. They couldn’t imagine sending kids back to where the tragedy had occurred. How could someone teach in a classroom where children had been killed? How could students return to a building where their favorite teachers were murdered, where they saw their best friends for the last time? Newton’s First Selectwoman (mayor) Pat Llodra had a major decision to make -- eventually send the students back to school in the old building, or rebuild, either on the property or somewhere else. Llodra hired several experts to help her make the decision, and eventually they chose to rebuild on the same property but in a different area. The state offered $50 million for the project, which was graciously accepted by the town.
In October of 2013, a demolition team began demolishing the school. I wonder what it was like for them, tearing down a site of terror. Instead of using a wrecking ball and ripping through the building where so many had lost their lives, the team literally went brick by brick. The project took several weeks. During the process, the school was fenced off and surrounded by security, so that no one would have to witness more destruction on the property. The materials were discreetly removed from the site, then pulverized and buried at an undisclosed location. It was as if the school had never existed.
Some might say that the people of Newton wanted to forget that the tragedy ever happened, but I do not believe this was the goal of the project. This was not erasure. The community of Sandy Hook Elementary was not destroyed the day the demolition began, it was destroyed on the day of the shooting. Demolishing the building simply removed the physical remnants. The team removed the reminders of the children and teachers lost, that otherwise would have been there every second of the school day once the students finally returned.
The school, which has been designed to make students and teachers feel safe and calm, was inspired by nature. The outside resembles rolling waves, and the lobby has high ceilings and stained glass windows that cast yellow, orange and red light throughout the space. The school is a sanctuary, a safe place for students to learn, grow and have fun. The building has added security features, but still maintains the peaceful atmosphere. The school will be open for the 2016-2017 school year beginning on August 29th.
The purpose of this building this beautiful school was not to make a statement; this was not some terrorist attack, not a mass shooting in the name of religion. The murders were committed by a man with mental illness. We don’t need to prove that we’re stronger than them, because there is no them. All that is needed is for the people of Newton to have the opportunity to grieve and move past this great loss. This new school was built for this purpose, and this purpose only.
