NEWS

Class of 2022 organizes candlelight vigil for beloved principal

By ALEX MALM
Posted 12/2/21

By ALEX MALM It was Saturday night when Pilgrim High School Class of 2022 President Amelia Lamantia pressed send on an email to the Warwick School Committee and the District's Administration about how she and other classmates felt that their principal

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NEWS

Class of 2022 organizes candlelight vigil for beloved principal

Posted

It was Saturday night when Pilgrim High School Class of 2022 President Amelia Lamantia pressed send on an email to the Warwick School Committee and the District’s Administration about how she and other classmates felt that their principal Gerald Habershaw and Social Arts Coordinator Cindy Rix were being treated unfairly after being placed on administrative leave following the homecoming dance on Nov. 6. 

Seconds after she pressed send her phone screen started lighting up with messages. It had news that no one in the community wanted to hear. 

Habershaw had passed away the messages read. 

When she heard the news she knew that she needed to help organize something. She along with her friends and classmates did just that. 

“The community needs it, the school needs it, it's not about me it's about Mr. Habershaw and the kids and the parents, and the teachers,” Lamantia said following the candlelight vigil at Pilgrim’s football field on Sunday evening. 

She began by talking to her friends and they posted to the Class of 2022 Instagram account that they would be having the vigil. They were able to get candles from St. Gregory’s Church and some who attended brought balloons, which were released, into the sky throughout the night and posters. Senior Brianna Callahan sang Amazing Grace, and community members were able to go up to the microphone and share a few words about Habershaw. A memorial was set up in the end zone which is now located in the display case inside the high school near the main entrance.

“The community came together,” Lamantia  said. 

Class officers estimated that about 500 people were in attendance.

“The turnout was amazing,” said John Mixner, a senior and one of the organizers of the vigil. 

“It's truly wonderful how we all came together,” Mixner added. “We were all able to just stop and be here for Mr. Habershaw, to remember him and be here for his family.”

Mixner from the track said that the candles that the vast majority of the crowd was holding were a representation. 

“The candle represents light. A lot of times in life we get faced with tasks and trials and there seems to be no hope. If there's one thing that's learned is that there is light at the end of the tunnel,” Mixner said. 

Mixner said that the candle represents that light. 

“It also represents the light that Mr. Habershaw shined on all of us and I know he is looking down on us from Heaven and is so proud of the turnout and is so thankful that he met each and everyone of you guys,” Mixner said. 

Lamantia  said that she was happy that she got to play a role in making the vigil happen. 

“It's the least I could do,” she said.

Habershaw, vigi

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