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Staples Students React to Newtown Elementary School Shooting

Staples+Students+React+to+Newtown+Elementary+School+Shooting
Sophie de Bruijn

Today’s shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown has sparked reaction among Staples students—several of whom have made contact with Newtown enrollees or outside sources through social media. Texting, Twitter, and Facebook have been the news outlets around school.

Trending on Twitter: #prayersfornewtown.

“I’m literally crying right now,” Erin Kenning, a Newtown High School senior posted on Facebook. Kenning is a lacrosse friend of at least one Staples student, Deanna Schreiber ’13.

Nathan Francis ’14 said he searched for news on Facebook through his camp friend, Maddie Mae. His friend, he found, had posted, “This is horrible. Never in my life would I have thought we would be living through a school shooting.”

Staples student Jordyn Patterson ’14 is still in shock from a forwarded text she received from a Newtown student. According to the text, there were rumors among students that various administrators and faculty were killed, along with a number of elementary school children; however, this has not been verified by news sources or by the Newtown police department.

What has been confirmed by Danbury Hospital—which is also currently under lockdown—is that three patients have been transported to the hospital. Regardless, this is upsetting news to Patterson.

“It’s horrifying,” Patterson said. “It’s so close to home. You’d never think of something like this happening here.”

Also written in the message was report that the elementary school had to be evacuated, while all other Newtown schools were on lockdown for two hours.

However, not all Staples students are as connected. Some, like Mrinal Kumar ’14, are concerned of the lack of information.

“It’s surprising and crazy that it’s so close,” Kumar said. “It’s closer to home than any other shooting in recent memory. I hope everything is OK.”

Eric Hawes ’15 is also worried.

“I’m scared it’s going to happen to Staples,” Hawes said. “I don’t want to even think about it.”

While Hawes is worried for the future, Hannah Lewis ’14 focuses on looking at the past.

“I’ve always felt detached from school shootings, but this one is all of asudden so real,” Lewis said. “It’s terrifying.”

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About the Contributors
Ryder Chasin, Web Managing Editor

A varsity athlete, student ambassador, Hollywood veteran, and President of the National Honor Society, Ryder Chasin is more than an exemplary student at Staples. In fact, it’s his avid engagement with the Staples community that makes him such a skilled journalist.

Chasin knows Staples students are busy and thus not prone to scroll through lengthy articles. This is why he intends to turn the web into a multi-media experience.

At a five-week journalism program at Northwestern University, Chasin studied how to use polls, video, and social media. He believes these techniques are the best way to grab and hold a reader’s attention. Through integrating interactive elements, Chasin strives to “bring new life to the paper,” and effectively carry Inklings into the 21st century.

When he is not managing the web, Chasin can be found writing profiles or front-page stories for the print issues of Inklings. Chasin has been a part of Inklings for 3 ½ years, and he looks forward to making his last the best one yet.

Ben Reiser, Managing Editor
Sophie de Bruijn, Breaking News Managing Editor

Sophie de Bruijn is not your typical high school senior. When she’s not a varsity basketball star or lighting up the stage with her amazing voice, she is an Inklings breaking news managing editor, and a very good one at that.

In fact, one of her proudest breaking news articles is about a local teacher winning the Wheel Of Fortune.

Aside from her love of sports and journalism, she loves helping people and even wants to pursue a career in the medical field. One of her main reasons for her interest in the medical field is because she was personally affected by a terrifying medical situation when she was a freshman.

“It is really meaningful to me especially since my mom had breast cancer when I was a freshman,” said Bruijn.

This summer, in order to get a jump-start on her new anticipated career, de Bruijn was awarded a research fellowship at The Jackson Laboratory, specifically studying the genetic precursors for ovarian cancer.

Sophie will definitely go far with her future, but no matter what she does or where she goes, she will always carry around her love for journalism.

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