Lives were given to save children

Principal, teachers called heroes

Revellers dressed up in Santa outfits gather at Trafalgar Square in London during a Santacon festival parade through the streets of London, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012.
Revellers dressed up in Santa outfits gather at Trafalgar Square in London during a Santacon festival parade through the streets of London, Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012.

— Dawn Hochsprung was known as the open and friendly face of Sandy Hook Elementary School, a 47-yearold principal pursuing a doctorate on weekends and quick with a smile.

Victoria Soto, 27, was a first-grade teacher, who liked to tell stories about her students. She lived in a pale blue house with her mother and three siblings. She shoveled snow from an ailing neighbor’s walkway.

They were among the 26 identified by authorities as those slain at the elementary school in Newtown, Conn., where a gunman opened fire Friday. All the students killed were 6 and 7.

Those students included Emilie Parker, 6, who never missed a chance to draw a picture or make a card; Chase Kowalski, 7, who was always outside, playing in the backyard, riding his bicycle; and Ana Marquez-Greene, who this time last year was reveling in holiday celebrations with her extended family on her first trip to Puerto Rico. Ana was the 6-year-old daughter of jazz saxophonist Jimmy Greene, who had moved to Newtown in July.

Officials said Hochsprung, Soto and others were responsible for saving the lives of many other students.

Hochsprung was described by a city official in Woodbury, where she lived and had taught, as an “extremely charismatic principal.” She viewed her school as a model, telling The Newtown Bee in 2010 that “I don’t think you could find a more positive place to bring students to every day.”

She had worked to make Sandy Hook a place of safety, too, and in October, Hochsprung shared a picture of the school’s evacuation drill with the message “Safety first.” When the unthinkable happened, she was ready to defend.

Officials said she and school psychologist Mary Sherlach, 56, died while lunging at the gunman in an attempt to overtake him.

This year, Hochsprung began taking classes toward her doctorate in educational leadership at the Esteves School of Education at the Sage Colleges in Albany, N.Y., some two hours away, where she attended classes on weekends.

During the attack at Sandy Hook, she confronted the gunman after he shot through glass to enter the building, said Maryann Jacob, an assistant librarian. The gunman then shot Hochsprung, she said.

Sherlach, who was nearing retirement, was recalled as a wonderful neighbor, a beautiful person and a dedicated educator.

Her son-in-law, Eric Schwartz, told the South Jersey Times that the loss was devastating, but that Sherlach was doing what she loved.

“Mary felt like she was doing God’s work,” he said, “working with the children.”

Soto, the first-grade teacher, often stayed at school until 8 p.m., her sister Carlee said, and was almost done with her master’s degree in teaching from Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven.

“She strived for being her best and trying to accomplish all of her goals,” she said.

Investigators informed relatives that Soto was killed while shielding her students from danger.

She apparently shooed the students into closets and cabinets when she heard the first shots, and then, by some accounts, told the gunman the youngsters were in the gym. Her cousin, James Willsie, told ABC News that she had “put herself between the gunman and the kids.”

“She died protecting the kids that she loved,” her sister Jillian Soto said. “We’re very proud to say she’s our sister.”

Soto’s neighbor, George Henderson, 55, remembered the help she gave him. Henderson has back trouble and said she shoveled his front walkway when it snowed.

She was an angel,” he said. “And God comes and takes his angels.”

Among the other victims of Friday’s shooting was teacher Anne Marie Murphy, 52, whose family remembered her as a happy soul and a good mother, wife and daughter.

Authorities told Murphy’s parents that their daughter was a hero who helped shield some of her students from the rain of bullets. As the grim news arrived, the victim’s mother reached for her rosary.

“You don’t expect your daughter to be murdered,” her father, Hugh McGowan, said. “It happens on TV. It happens elsewhere.”

Lauren Rousseau, 30, also was killed. She had spent years working as a substitute teacher and doing other jobs before she finally realized her goal this fall to become a full-time teacher at Sandy Hook.

Her mother said she was thrilled to get the job.

“It was the best year of her life,” she said.

“Lauren wanted to be a teacher from before she even went to kindergarten,” she said. “We will miss her terribly and will take comfort knowing that she had achieved that dream.”

Information for this article was contributed by staff members of Bloomberg News,The Associated Press and The New York Times.

Front Section, Pages 14 on 12/16/2012

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