Teacher Angela Hall always starts the day gathering her preschool students in a circle in their Shreveport, Louisiana, classroom. The kids giggle. They share. And they look for who’s missing.
鈥淏raylon, he鈥檚 not here,鈥� she recalled one of her students saying Monday.
Braylon Snow, who just turned 5, was one of seven siblings by their father in an attack that also killed their cousin. The shooting rattled classrooms in Shreveport where teachers like Hall on Monday came face-to-face with distraught parents and a messy stew of emotions.
In Hall’s classroom at Johnnie L. Cochran Head Start, it’s likely students noticed Braylon’s absence immediately. Each day, Hall instructs her students to look around for friends who aren’t there.
鈥淲hen they come back tomorrow, we can tell them, 鈥楬ey, we missed you, we鈥檙e glad you鈥檙e back’鈥� she tells them.
But Hall wasn’t ready to tell the students that the boy she described as a 鈥渃ool little dude鈥� wasn’t returning. She kept circle-time moving. Numb and heartbroken, she lasted until noon and then went home.
鈥淚鈥檓 no good to my babies right now because I just feel like I need to be in a moment of silence and just pray,鈥� she said.
Preschool comes to an end
At Head Start, preparation’s for next month’s graduation ceremony have been in full swing. Hall, an organist and pianist at her local Baptist church, wrote a song for the ceremony.
Students, who dress in caps and gowns for the festivities, have been busy learning the words, excited about the prospect of starting kindergarten in the fall. Hall was working hard to make sure they were ready.
Just last Thursday, she pulled Braylon’s mother aside during morning drop-off, boasting that Braylon was writing his first and last name. Braylon also was getting so independent, squirting syrup for his pancakes onto his plate by himself. He didn’t even need a reminder to wash his hands.
鈥淏raylon doesn鈥檛 give me any problems,鈥� she told his mother.
Braylon greeted Hall 鈥� known to her students as 鈥淢rs. Hall鈥� 鈥� each day with a small wave.
As the year progressed, she nudged more gap-toothed smiles from him. He loved his time on the playground 鈥� playing chase, tag and even partaking in “a little wrassling.鈥� She laughed as she remembered it.
鈥淗e was for the majority of the time kind of a quiet little soul in the classroom,” she said. “When he did get a little extra energy or something, it was just a joy to see him smile and laugh.”
91欧美激情 of the shooting emerges
But then came Sunday. After church, she went to her mother’s house. It was then that she stumbled across an article about the shooting.
The number of victims was so high she struggled to comprehend it. Then she learned Braylon was among the victims. She also knew one of his brothers. He had been a Head Start student at the school last year.
鈥淚 just broke down and just started crying,鈥� she said.
The same thing happened Monday morning at drop off when she locked eyes with a parent. Neither could say anything; the preschoolers were all around them.
鈥淚 just immediately broke down,鈥� she said. So too did the parent and a teacher’s aide.
She is relying on her faith now. She prays for the dead, for the families and also for the teachers.
鈥淎nd I鈥檓 just praying for all the educators that were connected to these children because it鈥檚 tough because my parents鈥� babies, they become my babies. And I treat them like they鈥檙e my own. So I鈥檓 just really praying that he sustains us all during this time.
鈥淛ust give us that strength.”
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