On Monday night, a few days before Thanksgiving, a Missouri grand jury announced its decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson in connection with the Aug 9 fatal shooting of Michael Brown, and several protesters were arrested in Ferguson, the St Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
While police did what they could to control the protests in the streets, which included looting and the setting of fires, schools near the violence made the preemptive decision to close early for the Thanksgiving holiday.
“We feel that it will be best to have students and staff at their homes instead of at school,” the Post-Dispatch quoted a statement on the Clayton School District website as saying. The closure of several St Louis County schools was intended to reduce traffic on the streets during the periods of unrest.
Churches have joined some school districts in the area in order to provide support for students and their families during the school closures.
“We all came to realize that churches working together can have a much larger impact than one church trying to deal within its own boundaries,” said Jim Sahaida, president of Metropolitan Congregations United, according to Al Jazeera America. “This is one of those times where I think the church really needs to be present.”
Describe a time when your life outside school interfered with your life in school. Read this Catalyst Chicago story about students who return after being arrested and see Common Core writing standard WHST.9-10.2.B for more information.
