Latest news with #RichardAspinwall
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Apalachee High School teachers added to National Memorial to Fallen Educators
The two teachers killed in the September Apalachee High School shooting are being added to a national memorial. Richard Aspinwall and Cristina Irimie were both math teachers at the school. They'll be added to the National Memorial to Fallen Educators in Emporia, Kansas, later this month. The memorial is on the campus of Emporia State University. The memorial was established in 2013 in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shooting. The names of 189 private educators and school employees are already engraved. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] TRENDING STORIES: Immigration protest ends with tear gas, fireworks thrown at officers, 6 arrests along Buford Highway They were once best friends, then one killed the other. We take you inside this bizarre murder case Fake Uber Eats killing suspect in court, victim's family removed from hearing [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Teachers killed in Apalachee HS shooting to be added to national memorial
The Brief Math teachers Richard Aspinwall and Cristina Irimie will join the names on the National Memorial to Fallen Educators later this month. The teachers were known in the community for their kindness and passion for teaching. The memorial was established in 2013 and is the only national site in the United States that permanently honors K-12 public and private educators and school employees who died in the line of duty. BARROW COUNTY, Ga. - Two teachers killed during last year's shooting at Apalachee High School will be added to the National Memorial to Fallen Educators later this month. Math teachers Richard Aspinwall and Cristina Irimie will join the names on the memorial at Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas after a ceremony on June 20. The backstory Cristina Irimie was a beloved figure in the Romanian community of Gwinnett and Barrow counties, known for her passion for teaching and her commitment to preserving her heritage. Father Nicolae Clempus, pastor of St. Mary's Romanian Orthodox Church in Dacula, said teaching was not just a job for her, it was her life's passion. She dedicated her life to both educate and uplift children both at her high school and in her Romanian immigrant community. "The first thing you see is her big smile. She was always smiling," Clempus said. Some students reported that Irimie heroically died while trying to shield others from harm. When Richard "Ricky" Aspinwall wasn't teaching his students math, he was motivating them on the football field. His fellow coaches described Aspinwall as an amazing husband, father, and teacher as well as a "helluva human being." "He was a tremendous football coach, but I tell people that's not why everybody loved him,"close friend Derek Tiller told FOX 5. "Everybody loved him because he was a selfless individual that wanted to do everything he could to make the program better and do what he could to help kids. And he lived that out every day and because of that, I want to make sure to keep that alive and people know what a great person he really was." Dig deeper The other individuals who will be honored at the ceremony are: Annie Louise Keller, 25, teacher at Centerville (Illinois) Country School, killed by tornado debris on April 19, 1927. Christopher J. Trakimas, 61, boiler mechanic, Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) School District, died May 18, 2016, after a workplace explosion. Nohema Graber, 66, Spanish teacher, Fairfield (Iowa) High School, killed Nov. 2, 2021. Kevin Garrison, 56, maintenance supervisor, Elkhorn (Nebraska) Public Schools, died Sept. 4, 2024, in a construction incident. Leah Seneng, 60, art teacher, Bryant Middle School in Dos Palos, California, died Nov. 22, 2024, from a rabid bat bite sustained on school property. Erin M. West, 42, teacher, Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, died in a school shooting on Dec. 16, 2024. Carol L. Mendiola-Mooers, 48, school counselor, Bering Strait (Alaska) School District, died in a Feb. 7, 2025, plane crash en route to visit with students. The memorial was established in 2013 and is the only national site in the United States that permanently honors K-12 public and private educators and school employees who died in the line of duty. "Each name is a legacy," said Maddie Fennell, executive director of the National Teachers Hall of Fame. "And we're calling on the public to help us ensure those legacies are seen, read, and remembered." What you can do The National Teachers Hall of Fame has started a fundraising campaign to raise money needed to purchase and install another "book" made of black granite for the next set of names. You can learn more about the GoFundMe here. The Source Information for this story came from a release by the National Teachers Hall of Fame and previous FOX 5 reporting.
Hamilton Spectator
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
As Gov. Brian Kemp signs Georgia school safety law, supporters look to implementing it
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Monday signed a law that supporters hope will prevent future school shootings like the one that killed two students and two teachers on Sept. 4 at Apalachee High School northeast of Atlanta. Richard Aspinwall, the father of the Ricky Aspinwall, one of the teachers who was killed, called Monday 'a great day for advancing safety.' 'I don't want anyone else to have to go through this,' Aspinwall told reporters. You see it happening all over the country. It's got to stop. Some way or another, it's got to stop.' But like with most new laws, putting the words into practice will be key. 'Everybody's got to work together,' Rep. Holt Persinger, the Winder Republican who represents Apalachee High School and sponsored the bill, said after the signing ceremony. He said that included not only schools and local law enforcement agencies, but Georgia's child welfare, mental health and emergency management agencies. House Bill 268 was driven in part by the belief among many that the Barrow County school system didn't have a full picture of the warning signs displayed by the 14-year-old accused in the fatal shootings. School officials never became aware that a sheriff's deputy in Jackson County had interviewed Colt Gray in May 2023 after the FBI passed along a tip that Gray might have posted a shooting threat online. The new law requires police agencies to report to schools when officers learn that a child has threatened death or injury to someone at a school. It also mandates quicker transfers of records when a student enters a new school, creates at least one new position to help coordinate mental health treatment for students in each of Georgia's 180 school districts and sets up an anonymous reporting system statewide. Public schools will have to provide wearable panic buttons to employees and would be required to submit electronic maps of their campuses to local, state and federal agencies once a year. The law also makes adult prosecution the default when children aged 13 to 16 are charged with terroristic acts at school, any aggravated assault with a gun, or attempted murder. The measure, though, required only a reduced version of a student-tracking database that was once a centerpiece of the bill, after opponents raised fears that it could become a permanent blacklist of students. Instead, the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency was directed to create a database of students who an investigation has found threatened violence or committed violence at schools. The law directs GEMA to make rules about when names would be included and how someone could petition to be removed. But lawmakers didn't specifically appropriate any money to GEMA for what they called an 'emergency alert system.' Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith called the measure a 'good start line,' but agreed cooperation would be key moving forward. 'You're not always going to get the job done unless you communicate,' Smith said. 'And you've got to understand what lanes they're in. Law enforcement has a lane, education has a lane, and then you have the taxpayers who have a lane.' Getting the law passed was emotional for many, including Persinger, who cried on the day it got final approval, and for the Aspinwall family 'It is part of the healing, but you never really heal,' Aspinwall said. 'You always have your memories. It always hurts.'
San Francisco Chronicle
28-04-2025
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
As Gov. Brian Kemp signs Georgia school safety law, supporters look to implementing it
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Monday signed a law that supporters hope will prevent future school shootings like the one that killed two students and two teachers on Sept. 4 at Apalachee High School northeast of Atlanta. Richard Aspinwall, the father of the Ricky Aspinwall, one of the teachers who was killed, called Monday 'a great day for advancing safety.' 'I don't want anyone else to have to go through this,' Aspinwall told reporters. You see it happening all over the country. It's got to stop. Some way or another, it's got to stop." But like with most new laws, putting the words into practice will be key. 'Everybody's got to work together,' Rep. Holt Persinger, the Winder Republican who represents Apalachee High School and sponsored the bill, said after the signing ceremony. He said that included not only schools and local law enforcement agencies, but Georgia's child welfare, mental health and emergency management agencies. House Bill 268 was driven in part by the belief among many that the Barrow County school system didn't have a full picture of the warning signs displayed by the 14-year-old accused in the fatal shootings. School officials never became aware that a sheriff's deputy in Jackson County had interviewed Colt Gray in May 2023 after the FBI passed along a tip that Gray might have posted a shooting threat online. The new law requires police agencies to report to schools when officers learn that a child has threatened death or injury to someone at a school. It also mandates quicker transfers of records when a student enters a new school, creates at least one new position to help coordinate mental health treatment for students in each of Georgia's 180 school districts and sets up an anonymous reporting system statewide. Public schools will have to provide wearable panic buttons to employees and would be required to submit electronic maps of their campuses to local, state and federal agencies once a year. The law also makes adult prosecution the default when children aged 13 to 16 are charged with terroristic acts at school, any aggravated assault with a gun, or attempted murder. The measure, though, required only a reduced version of a student-tracking database that was once a centerpiece of the bill, after opponents raised fears that it could become a permanent blacklist of students. Instead, the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency was directed to create a database of students who an investigation has found threatened violence or committed violence at schools. The law directs GEMA to make rules about when names would be included and how someone could petition to be removed. But lawmakers didn't specifically appropriate any money to GEMA for what they called an 'emergency alert system.' Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith called the measure a 'good start line,' but agreed cooperation would be key moving forward. 'You're not always going to get the job done unless you communicate," Smith said. "And you've got to understand what lanes they're in. Law enforcement has a lane, education has a lane, and then you have the taxpayers who have a lane.' 'It is part of the healing, but you never really heal," Aspinwall said. "You always have your memories. It always hurts.'
The Guardian
28-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Georgia governor signs school safety law after last year's fatal shooting
Georgia governor Brian Kemp on Monday signed a law that supporters hope will prevent future school shootings like the one that killed two students and two teachers on 4 September at the Apalachee high school north-east of Atlanta. Richard Aspinwall, the father of the Ricky Aspinwall, one of the teachers who was killed, called Monday 'a great day for advancing safety'. 'I don't want anyone else to have to go through this,' Aspinwall told reporters. You see it happening all over the country. It's got to stop. Some way or another, it's got to stop.' But like with most new laws, putting the words into practice will be key. 'Everybody's got to work together,' Holt Persinger, the Winder Republican state representative who serves Apalachee high school and sponsored the bill, said after the signing ceremony. He said that included not only schools and local law enforcement agencies, but Georgia's child welfare, mental health and emergency management agencies. House bill 268 was driven in part by the belief among many that the Barrow county school system didn't have a full picture of the warning signs displayed by the 14-year-old accused in the fatal shootings. School officials never became aware that a sheriff's deputy in Jackson county had interviewed Colt Gray in May 2023 after the FBI passed along a tip that Gray might have posted a shooting threat online. The new law requires police agencies to report to schools when officers learn that a child has threatened death or injury to someone at a school. It also mandates quicker transfers of records when a student enters a new school, creates at least one new position to help coordinate mental health treatment for students in each of Georgia's 180 school districts and sets up an anonymous reporting system statewide. Public schools will have to provide wearable panic buttons to employees and would be required to submit electronic maps of their campuses to local, state and federal agencies once a year. The law also makes adult prosecution the default when children aged 13 to 16 are charged with terroristic acts at school, any aggravated assault with a gun, or attempted murder. The measure, though, required only a reduced version of a student-tracking database that was once a centerpiece of the bill, after opponents raised fears that it could become a permanent blacklist of students. Instead, the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency (GEMA) was directed to create a database of students who an investigation has found threatened violence or committed violence at schools. The law directs GEMA to make rules about when names would be included and how someone could petition to be removed. But lawmakers didn't specifically appropriate any money to GEMA for what they called an 'emergency alert system'. Jud Smith, Barrow county's sheriff, called the measure a 'good start line' but agreed cooperation would be key moving forward. 'You're not always going to get the job done unless you communicate,' Smith said. 'And you've got to understand what lanes they're in. Law enforcement has a lane, education has a lane, and then you have the taxpayers who have a lane.' Getting the law passed was emotional for many, including Persinger, who cried on the day it got final approval, and for the Aspinwall family. 'It is part of the healing, but you never really heal,' Aspinwall said. 'You always have your memories. It always hurts.'
