Stronger Together: Support the HHMS Class of 2022 by Wearing Purple on Monday, May 23rd

Stronger Together: Support the HHMS Class of 2022 by Wearing Purple on Monday, May 23rd

On Thursday evening, what had been a beautiful graduation ceremony for the Hammond High Magnet School Class of 2022 was suddenly overshadowed by senseless violence. As graduates exited the Southeastern University Center to reunite with friends and family who were eager to congratulate them and capture the momentous occasion in pictures, shots rang out. Within seconds, SLU and Hammond police officers, several of whom were already working security at the venue, were on the scene, but those few seconds felt like an eternity in the frightening chaos. The event left four people injured and an entire town in shock.

As someone who found herself caught in the chaos, I am struggling to process exactly what happened and how I felt in those moments, but as a Hammond High teacher, I have been so profoundly moved by the outpouring of community support and by the incredible strength and determination of the dedicated teachers and administrators I work with. While we are all sad and angry that these events unfolded, we are also determined not to let this senseless act eclipse all that the incredible Class of 2022 has achieved and overcome. For the last 2.5 years of their high school career, the only consistency in their experience has been a change, and yet they have persevered. They missed out on so many typical high school experiences because of the pandemic, and they did not deserve to have their graduation sullied as well.

They deserve the greatest display of support and celebration, and so we ask that you join us in supporting the Hammond High Class of 2022 and the town of Hammond, Louisiana by wearing purple, our school color, on Monday, May 23rd. Show them your love by using #strongertogether when sharing your pictures on social media.

Our school and our community truly are Stronger Together! #GoTors

Kelly Vollmer
Kelly first moved to New Orleans to attend Tulane University, from which she earned a B.S. in Psychology and English and an M.A. in English. She quickly discovered New Orleans was the place where she had always belonged, and her high school sweetheart, Jeff, soon followed her here. They have now been married for 16 years and have two beautiful girls, Emma Jane (11) and Hannah (6), and 4 year-old pup named Ember. Kelly is a lover of all things nerdy, a proud fangirl, and she is a passionate high school English teacher.

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