Chalkboard Thoughts

        Sarah Rae Boehm was born on the 18th of February in 1980 in Rochester in Beaver County, Ohio. (I recently wrote about the case of Carla Chunchick Mason who was also from the little town of Rochester. Their cases are not related. Coincidences like this just seem somehow more sad and poignant.)    Sarah’s parents were Phyllis and Jack Boehm.     Sarah was born during the 1980 Winter Olympics.  I wonder if her Mom and Dad watched any of the events on tv before and after her birth. With a new infant in the house I can imagine they might have had that on the television. That was the year of the “Miracle on Ice” when the United States men’s hockey team defeated the Soviet team. Speed Skater, Eric Heiden, won five gold medals that year too.  Sarah as a child.   Sarah attended Rochester Junior High School in Rochester, Pennsylvania. She was a good student and a cheerleader. In one of her Junior high ph...

    Rita Murray Buffington was born on August 18th, 1960. Her mother was Vera Louise Tryon. Her father was Ted Murry. (The name is spelled Murry on some documents and Murray on others.)    She had a younger brother named Andy Buchanan.    Rita went to Shakamak High School. She was in what was known as “Special Education” class in school then. Today, children with disabilities are taught mostly in a regular classroom with their peers. Those needing special instruction like speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy or extra instruction are taken out of their regular class for those extra educational needs. But, in the 1970’s students with special needs were all in one classroom together all day.    That was thought to be good for these students. It was thought that they’d be safer and protected from bullying. But, it limited their ability for normal socialization. It limited their ability to receive advanced in...