Landmark Holds Vigil to Honor Deceased Student
A vigil was held at Landmark Middle School on September 27, 2019 to honor and remember the life of Diego Rivera, the 13 year-old boy who was assaulted at Landmark Middle School resulting in serious injuries and later death. This was a peaceful and heartwarming event where staff and students spoke about important details regarding the improvements the school is making, and tear-jerking sentiments were offered by students, parents, and staff.
The ceremony began with an opening song performed by Valley View High School’s choir followed by a performance of Moreno Valley High Schools choir. The opening was about the measures the Moreno Valley Unified School District is taking to help with the tragic situation and prevent it from ever happening again.
Jesús Holguín, the Board president, began by saying,¨Diego is teaching us a huge lesson, Diego is teaching us that we need to be together, that we need to communicate with each other, that we need to look at what we do and how we do things not only for one student but for all the students that we serve every single day in our school district.¨
One of the improvements that was done was a new sheriff school resource officer specifically assigned to Landmark Middle School. She feels very strongly about helping Landmark move forward because she is a member of the Moreno Valley community and has a child who was enrolled in Landmark Middle School.
Diego’s former teacher from his 6th grade year read a sentimental essay written by Diego about what he thought a hero was. His parents wanted Diego’s former teacher to read this essay because ¨this is everything Diego is.¨ Diego wrote, ¨being a hero means you put everyone before yourself, put people’s needs in front of your own, not being selfish, help everybody that needs it mentally and physically, people that don’t just stand up for themselves, but they stand up for everyone and fight for equality amongst humans.¨
The ceremony ended with a releasing of 13 balloons in honor of the 13-year-old; a life lost too soon.
Five students from Landmark Middle School, also friends of Diego Rivera, planned speeches in honor of their lost friend and to remind us of the type of person Diego was.
“Together as a community we will come together in a peaceful and respectful manner, we all have our opinions and they all need to be heard,¨ Eind´ah Phillips, said. ¨There is no excuse as to why he lost his life, everything is in our face and most of us are ignoring it, if we can’t change our community, we need to change our school and I challenge everybody out there to try and be a role model.¨
Holly Greene is a positive, uplifting, bubbly girl who believes in equality for all. She is extremely loyal, forgiving, and trustworthy. You will never...
Giselle • Dec 13, 2019 at 1:27 pm
Its upsetting to know that nobody did anything to help the poor kid. I also agree that we need better security so that this doesn’t happen ever again. However, its wonderful that they gathered to honor the poor boy.
sam • Dec 12, 2019 at 1:36 pm
To be honest the way they started the article it grab my attention about what hapen with Diego Rivera. The thing i agree with this article that we have to get better sercuity. Another thing is that i like how everyone came together to honor Diego Rivera but also its sad that theres was people there looking instead of helping him out. Also, i hate how something like this bad had to happen to get better security and actaully take bulling serious.
juliana sierra • Dec 12, 2019 at 12:06 pm
I´m so angry that nobody did anything when he was getting bullied. They should have taken it seriously in the beginning. I´m so angry and sad 🙁 but its nice that they did this. Rest in Paradise Diego
coen • Dec 11, 2019 at 12:15 pm
I actually attended this because of Dr.k he asked me and my family to go. It was a good time too see all of our community come together. The speach made me tear up . R.I.P Diego
Britney Gutierrez • Dec 11, 2019 at 10:32 am
I think its good that they are honering diego but i disagree that he is creating a bond between people when bullying has been a serious thing for a long time,and they are bearly taking precaution of it because something tragic happened.I do agree that we have to improve the security in all of our school and actually make a change in the community
Vanessa Montano • Dec 9, 2019 at 12:08 pm
I agree that we have to improve the security in our schools and I like how everyone came together in honor of Diego,i just think that it’s messed up that until something tragic happened about bullying we are now taking it seriously when bullying should be taken serious since the beginning.
Hetxabel • Dec 9, 2019 at 12:02 pm
In my opinion yes the article is right about improving the school security and honoring diego, but I do not see how diego is telling us we must come together. I think the bullies themselves with their reckless behavior are telling us what will happen if we don’t come together. At the end of the article someone writes “everything is in our face and most of us are ignoring it.” To be fair people don’t ignore it because they don’t care, they ignore it because they know that if they try and do something about it something might happen to them.
andrew martinez • Dec 9, 2019 at 11:53 am
This article about Diego is a good way to sum up the vigil.this is really sad about his death especially since he was so young.his speech about being a hero was very good.
Joaquin Gonzalez • Dec 9, 2019 at 10:51 am
It’s honestly a tragic to what happened to Diego Rivera.My blessings go to you and your loved ones.I wish we could’ve been friends.
Giselle • Dec 9, 2019 at 10:45 am
I liked the way they started the article and how it easily grabbed my attention. This is a very heavy topic but it was clear to read and understand. I think this article was well written how each paragraph fell into place.