Mother makes graduation request for son, a 2011 tornado victim

Published 11:00 am Wednesday, November 25, 2015

A woman who lost her son in the May 2011 tornado has asked that the Joplin School District recognize him this spring with an empty seat at what would have been his high school graduation.

“I wholeheartedly believe every student who passed away should have this honor,” said Tammy Niederhelman, the mother of Zachary Williams. “The families and classmates deserve it, but most importantly, the student’s memory deserves it.”

Niederhelman asked the Board of Education during its regular meeting Tuesday to adopt a policy that would allow deceased students to be recognized at graduation in the same manner that they would have been if they were alive. Zachary, 12, was a student at East Middle School at the time of his death in May 2011.

“Allow Zachary Allen Williams a seat with his cap and gown, which his parents will gladly purchase. Allow us to attend and hear his name to be called in the order that it should have been,” she said. “I assure you, if you were in our shoes, you would want your son or daughter to have that right.”

Board President Jeff Koch said administrators are still trying to decide how to handle the 2016 graduation ceremony, which will fall on May 22.

“This is something we have discussed some, how to appropriately mark the occasion, and we will continue to have conversations,” he said. “But at this time, we don’t have those plans determined.”

Joplin High School Principal Kerry Sachetta said he is sympathetic to Niederhelman’s situation. But the district has traditionally and consistently given a moment of silence during graduation only to students who had attended the high school prior to their death or to a staff member who was working at the high school at the time of their death, he said.

“Typically, any student who has been to the high school has established themselves in the high school culture,” he said. “They’re known by many students, and they’re just part of the high school family. That’s kind of how we’ve drawn a line of distinction to be recognized at graduation.”

Sachetta said the challenge of planning the 2016 ceremony is balancing the “sanctity” of graduation and the focus on the graduating students with honoring the five-year anniversary of the tornado. Current plans call for a moment of silence for all 161 tornado victims, including the seven Joplin students and one staff member. Zachary would be remembered in that way at what would have been his high school graduation, he said.

“I feel like it would be appropriate to do some kind of scrolling of names on the big screen and have a moment of silence for all the victims of the tragedy, and especially the ones who were from Joplin Schools,” he said. “I think when we try to remember something for a brief moment of time, I think that’s very appropriate, very respectful.”

Niederhelman, who had talked to Sachetta on Tuesday prior to the school board meeting, said she agreed that all 161 tornado victims deserve recognition this spring. But May 22, 2016, would have been a special day for her son, she said.

“Zach was and still remains a member of the 2016 class,” she told the school board. “Please allow his memory to be recognized as such.”