For Her Students at Concord School--Spirits, Hopes Die

A celebration complete with balloons, party hats and horns collapsed into a stunned, anguished silence Tuesday as students and faculty at Concord High School watched the shuttle carrying their most famous teacher blow up.

“It was the highest of high spirits and the greatest of hope,” said red-eyed Mark Roth, an assistant principal at the school. “And then it hit a wall.”

Students and teachers had gathered in assembly rooms to witness teacher Sharon Christa McAuliffe, 37, become the first private citizen in space. A helium tank had been set up in a school office to fill balloons, and bags of confetti were provided to mark the moment of the launching.

“Everybody was totally flying high, cheering wildly, and then there was a dead silence everywhere,” said school secretary Michael Hansen. “For 15 minutes, it seemed, nobody moved. Nobody talked. I’ve never been in a school that quiet. All you could hear was the sound of the televisions and the radios.”

Finally, principal Charles Foley announced over the intercom that students should return to their classrooms and the news media should leave the building.

Teachers Weeping in Classrooms

In the classrooms, students found their shaken teachers weeping.

“I went back to my chemistry class and my teacher, well, she seemed more confused than we were,” said Kellee Dorvall, 17, a senior. “She tried to comfort us but she couldn’t say, ‘Don’t cry, don’t get upset’ because she was crying too.”

A television droned on. Some students told nervous jokes “to hide their feelings,” Dorvall said. But she cried, she said, and her teacher hugged her.

The students were sent home shortly after 1 p.m., and the faculty gathered in the confetti-strewn auditorium where the celebration had taken place. One teacher led the others in prayer, asking for strength and guidance.

Classes were canceled for today, and a faculty meeting scheduled to discuss how to help students cope with the disaster when they return Thursday.

“I’m not sure I know how to help the students deal with this,” principal Foley, a former chemistry teacher, said later. “Ask me something in chemistry--I know how to deal with that.”

McAuliffe was considered one of the best teachers in the school and had become a statewide celebrity since her selection for the mission.

“She was a demanding teacher and had high expectations, but she had a smile and a helping hand for everybody,” Foley said.

The tragedy was the second in recent months to strike the high school. On Dec. 3, a troubled 16-year-old who had dropped out one month previously entered the school with a shotgun. He held two students hostage in the main hallway before being shot dead by police 20 minutes later.

After the shooting, which also occurred on a Tuesday, there were special staff meetings and counseling for the students. Now, similar measures are being planned again.

At the nearby state Capitol, Gov. John H. Sununu, speaking in a whisper, declared Tuesday “a very hard day for the state.”

Churches throughout this snow-covered community of 32,000 held prayer services. Stunned townspeople stopped each other on the streets to exchange information.

“It was like a piece of you was empty,” grocery clerk Charles Kimball, 18, said. “You didn’t know who to blame. People were moving through the store with sad faces and everybody was calling the store to talk about it.”

In the window of one bookstore was a photo of McAuliffe with the slogan, “Reach for the Stars.” But on the door, a sign read “closed out of respect for Christa.”