TRAGIC, TEACHABLE MOMENT: What will Rigoberto Ruelas' students learn from his suicide?
BY SANDY BANKS LA TIMES COLUMNIST | HTTP://LAT.MS/BICGIR
Perla Cruz, one of Rigoberto Ruelas' students at Miramonte Elementary School, listens to testimonials at a Mass for the teacher who took his life. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times / September 29, 2010)
October 2, 2010 – Maybe it seems pointless to say now what a dedicated teacher Rigoberto Ruelas was.
He tutored his students after class, visited their homes and met their families, steered them away from gangs and toward college. He arrived early for work every morning at Miramonte Elementary, and had near perfect attendance for 14 years, right up until last week, when he disappeared.
Ruelas' body was discovered on Sunday in a ravine beneath a Big Tujunga Canyon bridge. He left no note, but the Los Angeles County coroner