Tragedy at One School, Renewal at Another

December 20, 2012

Mourners gather for the wake for Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victim Charlotte Helen Bacon, 6, in Newtown, Connecticut

From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report in Special English.

Funerals began this week for the school shooting victims in Newtown, Connecticut. Last Friday a 20-year-old local man killed 20 children, six educators and himself at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Officials say Adam Lanza used guns owned by his mother after shooting her to death at their home.

The shooting was the second deadliest ever at an American school. In 2007 a student at Virginia Tech killed 32 people and then himself.

What happened in Newtown has once again reopened debate about gun control and issues like mental health services. President Obama spoke Sunday at a memorial service in the town. He said he will use whatever power he has as president "in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this."

On Wednesday, he named Vice President Joe Biden to lead an administration team in developing proposals to reduce gun violence.

Students at Sandy Hook Elementary are expected to return to school in a neighboring town in January after winter break. Sandy Hook will remain closed until further notice.

In the gunfire last week, a community lost a school for the most tragic of reasons. Days earlier, another community not very far away regained a school in a story of hope, renewal and the strength of the human spirit.