THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 14, 1995 TAG: 9505120195
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 21 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
When a terrorist bomb blew up the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City several weeks ago, three sixth-grade girls at Great Bridge Middle School North were outraged.
``They were angry, and they wanted to do something,'' said sixth-grade teacher Denise Dunaway, who sent Amber Webb, the 11-year-old daughter of Debbie and Dan Webb, and Amber Rogers, the 11-year-old daughter of Terrie and Fred Rogers, to talk to school guidance counselor Linda Frantz.
Frantz said they were eager to discuss the bombing and what they could do to help.
``When they first came to me, they asked me, `Can we talk about it?' '' Frantz said. ``We did discuss it and did a little brainstorming. Finally, they came up with the idea to send a banner.''
``We felt sorry for them,'' Amber Webb said. ``We wanted them to know someone cares.''
The two Ambers drew a heart in the middle of the banner with the message, ``We'll Keep You In Our Prayers.'' They gave up their lunch periods for several days while they busied themselves getting the school's sixth-grade classes to sign the banner and write positive messages of support for the people in Oklahoma City.
Frantz said a message written by one of the sixth-graders really touched her heart. It read: ``Please try to be strong. One day this will be all behind us, and we'll see bright skies again.''
``All of the messages were dear and tender,'' Frantz said.
Then Jessica Skelton, the 12-year-old daughter of Suzen and Randal Bailey, offered to help send the touching banner to Oklahoma. Jessica's mother works at the main Chesapeake Post Office on Battlefield Boulevard.
``I offered to mail it for them, but they wanted to do it on their own,'' Suzen Bailey said.
``I felt sorry for the victims, too, and wanted to do something,'' Jessica said. ``Their world was devastated, and we want to show them that we would like to help. We wanted them to know they weren't alone and that we were all thinking about them.''
Jessica volunteered to collect whatever change she could get from classmates in Dunaway's Homeroom 303 and Connie Wentworth's Homeroom 305. Jessica's colleagues came through after lunch period, allowing her to collect $3 worth of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters.
``I thought it was wonderful,'' Dunaway said. ``I was happy to see these children take the initiative to do something. It touched me to see how they were touched by the Oklahoma blast. The main concern of all of these students was the fate of those poor children in the building's day-care center.''
Frantz said the effort allowed the school's sixth-graders to talk about the tragedy and to express their feelings of outrage and anger toward the perpetrators.
``Sometimes adults treat children as if they didn't know what was going on in the world, but these three girls and the rest of their classmates proved that they do indeed know and care,'' Frantz said. ``Sometimes our children can surprise us when they come up with something so positive.''
``I've been reading everything I can about it,'' Amber Rogers said. ``I just don't know how someone could have done something like that.''
Jessica got an address from her mother. The three girls will send the banner in a mailing tube to the vital statistics section of the Oklahoma State Department of Health.
``All we want to say to the people in Oklahoma City is, `We love you all,' '' Amber Webb said. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MORT FRYMAN
The students who created a banner supporting the bombing survivors
were, from left: Amber Roberts, Jessica Skelton and Amber Webb.
by CNB