MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY LATE TODAY. AN INJUNCTION TO STOP THE STRIKE WHERE THAT STANDS LIVE AT SIX.
WELL THAT’S ONE WAY OXFORD HIGH
SCHOOL STUDENTS CAN REMEMBER AND
ALSO PAID TRIBUTE TO THE LIVES
LOST AND LAST YEAR’S SHOOTING,
BUT IT’S TWO STUDENTS SHARE WITH
OUR SANDRA ALI. THEY WANT THEIR
YEARBOOK TO REMIND THEM, THE
STUDENT BODY PERSEVERED, MOURNED
BUT ALSO LET THEMSELVES BE
STUDENTS AND EVERYTHING THAT
COMES WITH THAT. THIS IS THE
YEARBOOK RIGHT HERE AND YOU CAN
SEE THE STUDENTS CHOSE BLACK FOR
THE COVER, EVEN THE WRITING THE
FONT. EVERYTHING IS IN BLACK.
THE THEME WHAT? YOU DIDN’T SEE,
THEY SAY THEY WANTED EVERYONE TO
KNOW THAT LIFE WENT ON AFTER THE
TRAGIC SHOOTING LAST YEAR, AND
THEY WANT EVERYONE TO KNOW THEIR
CLASSMATES MAY BE GONE, BUT THEY
WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN. SO WE
HAVE HANNAH’S PAGE. AND THEN
STATES PAGE KIRSTEN CAROLINA ARE
FLIPPING THROUGH THE NEW YEAR
BOOK ONE THEY HELPED PUT
TOGETHER SINS AND THEN JUSTINE’S
, ALTHOUGH IT’S A DIFFERENT
KEEPSAKE THIS YEAR, NOT ONLY
CAPTURING A MOMENT IN TIME BUT
ALSO FULL OF MEMORIES. A RETURN
TO SCHOOL PAGE, SOME OF THEM
PAINFUL, MANY BITTERSWEET. WE
AREN’T JUST WHAT HAPPENED THAT
ONE DAY. THAT WAS ONE DAY OF THE
YEAR. THAT DOESN’T DEFINE US
THAT DOESN’T DEFINE OUR YEAR. WE
STILL HAD FUN AFTER WE WERE
STILL ENJOYING OURSELVES. WE
WERE LIVING OUR LIVES AND WE
WANTED TO INCLUDE THAT. IN THE
YEARBOOK PROM PAGE, WHICH WAS A
VERY, VERY AMAZING PROM OUR YEAR
AND WE WANTED TO TELL THE TRUE
STORY. IT’S A STORY ABOUT
TRIUMPH OVER TRAGEDY. WITH EACH
PAGE, YOU TURN THERE IS YET
ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF RESILIENCE.
FROM THE MOMENT THAT EVERYTHING
HAPPENED. WE KNEW THAT WE HAD TO
INCLUDE EVERYTHING AND A ROADMAP
SHARING WITH THE REST OF THE
WORLD. HOW THESE KIDS FROM
OXFORD WHO ENDURED THE ULTIMATE
TRAGEDY SOMEHOW FOUND THE
STRENGTH TO CARRY ON THIS STARTS
ALL OF OUR MEMORIAL PAGE. AGES
YEARBOOK HAS A SPECIAL SECTION
DEDICATED ENTIRELY TO MADISON,
BALDWIN, TATE MERE JUSTIN
SCHILLING AND HANNAH SAINT
JULIANA FOR BELOVED CLASSMATES
GUNNED DOWN IN A MASS SHOOTING
AT OXFORD HIGH SCHOOL ON THAT
TRAGIC TUESDAY LAST OCTOBER, TO
LIKE LOTS OF DIFFERENT QUOTES
FROM FRIENDS AND FAMILY, THEIR
FAMILIES HELPED CREATE THOSE
PERSONAL PAGES AS A TRIBUTE SUMS
UP EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED
AFTERWARD, OUR COMMUNITY WENT
THROUGH. WHAT WAS THE SCHOOL
WENT THROUGH WHAT STUDENTS
INDIVIDUALLY WENT THROUGH
SHARING THEIR MOST CHERISHED
PHOTOS THEIR FAVORITES. MEMORIES
OF A TIME WHEN THINGS HERE AT
THE SCHOOL WERE SIMPLER. WE’RE
JUST HOPING THAT THEY CAN LOOK
BACK THROUGH THE BOOK AND SEE
THEIR CHILD OR CHILDREN BEING
HAPPY BECAUSE WE OBVIOUSLY
WANTED TO COVER THEIR CHILD IN
THE BEST LIGHT THAT WE POSSIBLY
COULD MONTHS AFTER THE SHOOTING
WHEN THE SCHOOL REOPENED IN
CLASSES RESUMED, LIFE DIDN’T GO
BACK TO NORMAL OR EVEN CLOSE TO
WHAT IT WAS LIKE BEFORE. OF
COURSE, WE WERE SAD THAT SOME
PEOPLE WEREN’T THERE TO SHARE
MEMORIES WITH US. UM AND NOT
INCLUDING THEM ON THINGS THAT
THEY OTHERWISE WOULD HAVE BEEN A
PART OF IS DIFFICULT. IT WAS
DIFFERENT, BUT THE GIRLS NOTICED
A TREND AND THEY STARTED TO
DOCUMENT IT THROUGH PICTURES AND
STUDENT ESSAYS NOW FOUND ON
THESE PAGES. A LOT OF THE PHOTOS
THAT WE HAD GOTTEN AFTER THE
FACT WE’RE VERY POWERFUL PHOTOS.
THEY SHOWED A LOT OF, UM, THE
STRENGTH THAT OUR SCHOOL HAD. I
THINK EMOTIONALLY, IT WAS YOU
KNOW, WE WERE STILL GOING
THROUGH OUR EMOTIONS, BUT LIKE
WE HAD TO GET BACK TO IT AND
KEEP MOVING FORWARD MOVING
FORWARD AS BEST THEY COULD
MAKING SURE THEY DIDN’T LEAVE
ANYTHING OUT. GOOD OR BAD. WE
STILL GOT OUR PROM PICTURES IN
THERE. WE STILL BECAUSE THERE
WAS A LOT MORE TO US THAN WHAT
HAPPENED. WE LEARNED AND WE GREW
FROM IT AND WE STILL DO OUR
EVERYDAY THINGS. AND OF COURSE,
LIKE WE OBVIOUSLY LIKE, REMEMBER
IT AND WE STILL LIKE PAY
TRIBUTE, BUT WE ALSO WANTED
EVERYONE TO DON’T KNOW ABOUT.
YOU KNOW THE EVERYDAY STUFF THAT
WE DO AS WELL AND IT REALLY
SHOWS HOW STRONG WE ARE
TOGETHER. AND RECENTLY JUST
BEFORE ALL OF THESE YEARBOOKS
WERE HANDED OUT TO STUDENTS HERE
IN OXFORD, ALL OF THE FAMILIES
RECEIVED THEIR SPECIAL COPIES,
WITH ALL OF THEIR TRIBUTES TO