‘Let’s be Kind:’ In the Wake of Tragedy, a Message to Concord Town Meeting

Concord resident Tina Labadini, who has ties to the Sandy Hook school shooting in Newtown, Conn., addressed annual Town Meeting, which opened night Monday -- one week after the Boston Marathon bombing.

As a proper noun, Concord is a town. But lowercase the "c" and you've got something synonymous with harmony. So it seems fitting then, in light of recent tragedies, that a resident would stand in front of annual Town Meeting and encourage the nearly 1,000 Concordians assembled as the town's legislative body and say: "Let's be kind." Town Meeting opened Monday, one week removed from the Boston Marathon bombings that set off a week many feel was Massachusetts' most trying in recent memory. As part of the opening ceremonies resident Tina Labadini, who has ties to the Sandy Hook school shooting in Newtown, Conn., took the podium, saying as hearts go out to the victims there is a way for Town Meeting to honor them with its actions as well as …

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Patch Will Go Dark Briefly Friday Morning to Mark Moment of Silence for Newtown Victims

One week after the Newtown massacre, Patch and much of the Web world will go dark briefly at 9:30 Friday morning to join in the tribute to the kids and teachers.

  Concord Patch -- and all of our sister sites -- will be among the many websites which will display a tribute to victims of the Sandy Hook shooting over their sites tomorrow, Friday, at 9:30 a.m. According to Patch's sister site Techcrunch, the online campaign was inspired by a call for a moment of silence by Connecticut’s governor — and follows a coalition of tech leaders calling for more gun control. Techcrunch writes: The awareness strategy seems inspired by the SOPA [Stop Online Piracy Act] website blackouts from January. Instead of completely blocking functionality of participating websites, though, the tribute message can be closed to resume normal browsing. Alternatively, people can click a link in the message to find out what else…

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Raising Concord

Newtown Tragedy: A Time for Tears

On the gut-wrenching initial reaction, searching for answers and, eventually, making a difference and, eventually, talking to kids about the Newtown Tragedy

  In the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting the range of emotions run from terror to sadness to anger. I can’t get the image of terrified little Kindergarteners out of my head. I tried distracting myself with mundane chores. I tried playing Legos with my Pre-K and first-grade children. I tried calling friends and family. I finally decided to write. After all, that is what I have been doing since I was in Kindergarten. I write when I am happy and I write when I am sad. But as a parent, you never want to write about this. I was horrified when I saw the hoards of emails coming across my laptop about school security. Why would everyone be talking about this on a Friday afternoon before Christmas? I started to get that sick …

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UPDATED: Concord Schools 'Horrified and Deeply Saddened' by Newtown Tragedy

Concord schools will have mental health teams to assist teachers and students with discussions with students, according to Superintendent of Schools Diana Rigby.

UPDATED at 12:45 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 16 Superintendent of Schools Diana Rigby provided the following informatin about how the district is making assistance available to parents in the wake of Friday's tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. She wrote in an email: Principals have reached out to parents with safety information, resources, and comfort. We will have mental health team members available on Monday morning for teachers and parents. Voluntary faculty meetings will be held in the elementary schools before school on Monday to assist teachers with age appropriate responses to student inquiries.  Original Post Supreintendent of Schools Diana Rigby on Friday said the district was "horrified and deeply saddened" to …

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