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'Be The Light': Pittsburgh Greenfield Students Honor Tree Of Life Victims With Lantern Ceremony

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Since the shooting rampage at Tree of Life Synagogue last year, Pittsburgh Public Schools' Greenfield PreK-8 has created a memorial for the 11 victims of the shooting.

As the one-year mark approaches, the students and faculty decided to hold a ceremony to remember those who lost their lives and the brave first responders who faced danger to apprehend the gunman.

Last year, the elementary school dedicated 11 benches, one for each of the victims of the shooting, in their memorial garden. To mark one year, they put together a lantern ceremony to remember each life lost.

Despite an early morning chill, all of the students and staff gathered outside. Based on a poem by Rumi, student speakers explained how one can be a lamp, a lifeboat or a lantern to help others.

"I was really thinking about how to rather than fully go with the prompt, think about what it meant for the community as a whole, bringing us together as individuals," Ari Case, a seventh-grader said.

As part of the ceremony, the names of the 11 victims were read and a bell rang after each name.

Students then placed lanterns on the benches or gave to family members of the victims' families.

All of the Greenfield students then joined together to sing "Be The Light."

The students also honored the first responders. Pittsburgh Police Zone Four Cmdr. Dan Hermann gave the keynote address.

School administrators say it's important to teach the students about kindness at an early age.

"Kindness needs to be contagious," one of the staff members said. "Teaching kids now as kindergarteners up to eighth grade at Greenfield School, hopefully teaching them how to do this now, and send them this message through something bad that happens, hopefully, it will change the world each time."

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