Columbine tragedy helped unify the town

“Mountains rising to the sun, Towering o’er the plains, Heads held high we stand as one, And proudly we proclaim, ‘We are Columbine.’ We all are Columbine. Let the world be told blue and silver we uphold forever.”

– Columbine High School’s Alma Mater by Frank Ticheli

These words take me back to so many memories; memories that I will never forget.  I will forever remember getting excited at pep rallies, cheering my Rebels on to victory at football and basketball games, going to dances and competing on the golf course for my school.
The list goes on.

Today, I could not be more proud to say that I am a Columbine High School Rebel.
Ten years ago, on April 20, 1999, a tragedy made my school infamous. Although the world may look at Columbine and think of a tragedy, I will always think of it as so much more.
The events and actions following that day are what should truly make Columbine famous.
In the days and weeks after the shooting, the Columbine community came together and grieved.

Through this troubling time we found, as a community, that strength can be gained in unity.

People supported each other and built each other up. Everyone made such a difference. Everyone helped each other continue their lives in peace. 

I will never forget going to a park near my school just a few days after the tragedy had taken place and looking at the makeshift memorials that the community had set up.
The cars of the students that were killed were covered with flowers and letters while they still sat in the parking lot.

People came out to honor those that had died, and to help everyone begin moving on together while never forgetting what had happened.

As a community, we made a decision that this tragedy would not define us, but rather that we would learn from what had happened and emerge stronger and more unified than ever before.    

The principal of Columbine, Frank DeAngelis, has a passion and friendship with his students that I admire immensely. Without his leadership and devotion to helping Columbine recover from this tragedy the community would have had a much harder time coping.

Mr. DeAngelis decided to remain the principal at Columbine until all of the classes that were in school at the time of the shooting graduate.

This is just one more way that he is showing his love for the school and the community, and helping them in the years since the tragedy. 

Every word in the alma mater speaks truth about my school and community. We hold our heads high, and are proud to tell people where we are from.

Our school is full of pride and school spirit, and I believe that this can be credited to the way all of us bonded together to make it through a hard time. 

As time passed after the tragedy, the words that seemed to stick with the community were “Never forgotten.”

When we say “Never forgotten” we are not referring to the event of the tragedy, but rather that we will never forget those who lost their lives and how, when people come together   anything is possible.