As we in New Orleans grieve the tragedy unfolding today in Connecticut, please let us also bear in mind the joy that our own school children bring us — and our duty as a community to protect them.
Crocker elementary students run through the play yard in an Easter Egg hunt sponsored by the New Orleans Police Department in 2011. (UptownMessenger.com file photo by Sabree Hill)
A mother and son laugh together during the 2011 Fête Française at Ecole Bilingue de la Nouvelle Orleans. (UptownMessenger.com file photo by Sabree Hill)
KIPP Central City Academy students march in the 2012 Krewe of Pontchartrain parade. (UptownMessenger.com file photo by Sabree Hill)
An image of Mariah Woods, an Xavier Prep graduate killed two years ago when an alleged drug dealer fleeing police crashed into the car she was sitting in in the Milan neighborhood. (UptownMessenger.com file photo by Sabree Hill)
Two Montessori students at Audubon Charter School test out their new classroom in the school’s temporary campus in Gentilly in January 2012. (UptownMessenger.com file photo by Sabree Hill)
A Lusher Charter School student plays with his “food” during the school’s annual crawfish boil fundraiser in 2011. (UptownMessenger.com file photo by Sabree Hill)
A teacher at the International School of Louisiana assists second-grade Spanish-immersion students in early 2011. (UptownMessenger.com file photo by Sabree Hill)
An O. Perry Walker student performs during the 2012 Battle of the Bands at Tipitina’s to benefit music programs in other schools.
Students from Lycee Francais de la Nouvelle Orleans participate in the school’s first winter market fundraiser in December 2011. (UptownMessenger.com file photo by Sabree Hill)
Walter L. Cohen High School seniors protest the firing of their teachers in October 2012 as administration of their school is handed to the Future Is Now charter. (UptownMessenger.com file photo by Robert Morris)
The Sophie B. Wright marching band leads an anti-crime march through Hollygrove after the shooting death of Walter L. Cohen senior Brandon Baker in April 2012. (UptownMessenger.com file photo by Robert Morris)
A neighbor offers a prayer after a man was shot to death in the street outside the James Weldon Johnson elementary school in west Carrollton. (UptownMessenger.com file photo by Sabree Hill)
Students from Sojouner Truth Academy, a high school that closed in early 2012, participate in a “Fight the Blight” day in 2011. (UptownMessenger.com file photo by Sabree Hill)
[Note: This article is composed of photos that have previously been published on UptownMessenger.com, and was compiled in consultation with several law-enforcement officers, educators and journalists who do not believe its publication places these children in any danger. As an additional step to protect their privacy, any names used in the original photo captions have been removed in this article.]
