Sandy Hook, Barack Obama and the Photo of Him on What He Says was the Worst Day of His Presidency
President Obama with John Brennan
On their first day back to school following the day in which 20 of their classmates and six administrators were brutally executed, most of the students from Sandy Hook Elementary School were said to be “excited,” Monroe, Conn., Police Lt. Keith White said to NBC News.
School was back in session on Jan. 3, although not at the same location, which is still being treated as a crime scene. Instead, an unused middle school in neighboring Monroe is where the kids were bussed. The school was refurbished to be as familiar to the kids as possible, with their old desks moved in, plus their coats, backpacks and lunch boxes that had been left behind during the massacre.
Parents were invited to spend the entire first day back at school in the school, therapists and therapy dogs were available to the children, and police guarded the school closely. The Sandy Hook principal who retired in 2010 also agreed to come back to stand in for her replacement who was killed last month.
On Dec. 14, Adam Lanza used a semi-automatic rifle to change that community — and much of the country — permanently.
It’s a day President Obama now recalls as the single worst one of his presidency. White House photographer Pete Souza released a photo today of the moment when President Obama learned of the news in Newtown:
The President reacts as John Brennan briefs him on the details of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. The President later said during a TV interview that this was the worst day of his Presidency.
Photo credit: Pete Souza/The White House
Source: ABC News
More from Meredith on Babble’s Mom blog:
- Creepy Alert! These 25 ‘Twisted Bean Stalk Nursery’ Dolls Will Haunt Your Dreams
- Happy Weird Year! 15 Hilarious Bizarre Beauty Products to Try in 2013
- These 17 Motivational Posters from the 1920s Might Just Help You Stay on Track in 2013
Read (even) more from Meredith at Babble’s Toddler blog, follow her on Twitter, and check out her weekly column on the Op-Ed page of The Denver Post at MeredithCarroll.com
Newsletter