Brandon Roy comforts students at Skyline School with Kyron Horman still missing
Published: Tuesday, June 15, 2010, 4:58 PM Updated: Tuesday, June 15, 2010, 6:08 PM
Brandon Roy, an All-Star guard for the Portland Trail Blazers, shares hugs at Skyline School today during an assembly. He was one of a few people giving motivational talks."I'm disappointed the year is over already because I think the kids need each other right now," said Beth Smith, walking onto school grounds to pick up her 12-year-old daughter, who was Kyron's reading buddy.
"She's still scared," Smith said. "Her whole security has been taken away from her."
Smith said her daughter, a sixth-grader, is worried that the person who snatched Kyron could return to the school.
"She said from the get-go he didn't just walk off," Smith said. "He's a quiet boy. He follows the rules. He listens. He loves his family."
His disappearance has cast a pall over the elementary school like the shroud of gray clouds that hammered it today with hail. Still, teachers, staff and parent volunteers tried to end the school year on an optimistic note with a mid-day school assembly planned long before Kyron went missing the morning of June 4.
"The overall message was to celebrate the entire school year while recognizing it had been a difficult last week and a half," said Matt Shelby, spokesman for Portland Public Schools, who was on hand for the last day of classes.
With reporters kept off school grounds, everyone gathered for the assembly, which was opened by Principal Benjamin Keefer, who said everyone was wishing for Kyron's safe return. Nate McMillan, coach for the Portland Trail Blazers, talked about the importance of taking responsibility and staying safe over the summer, and Brandon Roy, an All-Star guard for the Blazers, gave his own motivational talk.
The assembly also included a speech by the recently signed goalkeeper for thePortland Timbers soccer team, Adin Brown, and a performance by pianistMichael Allen Harrison, an artist-in-residence for Portland Public Schools.
The mood was generally upbeat both before and after, with kids playing and laughing on school grounds, Shelby said.
"It was good to see the students being kids," he said.
But Kyron's disappearance continues to haunt the K-8 school on a day when law enforcement plumbed leads and divers were sighted suiting up on private property in Northwest Portland.
Enrollment caps at popular Portland high schools limit transfers for fall
New district statistics show which high schools attract the most students, which neighborhoods lose the most students to schools in other parts of town
Oregon university system uses extra student tuition to plug budget hole
Oregon's university system will use the tuition money from record enrollments to plug its portion of the state budget shortfall.
By Pedro Morillas
