Way to Go! Student coordinates outreach to teens affected by mass shooting
Michael Keehner, a sophomore at Sayville High School, spearheaded a heartfelt effort for those impacted by the mass shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan. Credit: Leslie A. Keehner
A Sayville High School student recently spearheaded an effort to send heartfelt messages to teens affected by a mass shooting in Michigan.
Michael Keehner, a sophomore, printed and cut out 1,700 heart-shaped cards that his classmates filled with handwritten messages to be sent to Oxford High School, where four students were killed in an attack in November.
To create the hearts, Keehner used gold card-stock paper — because both Oxford and Sayville share that school color — and printed them at home over a week-and-a-half using a Cricut machine.
"I just really wanted to show how if there isn't kindness in this world, you always have to be that kindness," Keehner said.
The project was assisted by Sayville global history teacher Kaytie Ferremi, who distributed the hearts to the high school's other history teachers so as many pupils as possible could write messages. The finished hearts were then packed into a protective mailing tube with a letter explaining the activity and sent to Oxford by Sayville Principal Ronald Hoffer.
"His hope was that every student in the school would be able to participate, so that there would be a message for every student at Oxford," Ferremi said of Keehner.
Keehner, 15, is also a second-degree blackbellt in taekwondo and a member of his school's chorale, Anchor Club, History Club and Peer Leadership Club.
— MICHAEL R. EBERT
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.
