Community comes together to honor student at graduation who passed away

Photo: Submitted

The North Lamar community came together this week to make sure a student who passed away last year would be honored at her would-be graduation ceremonies. The family of Kaylee Nicole Starling-Boswell, who was killed in an ATV accident on June 7, 2021, took to social media to get support.

According to Kaylee’s aunt, Ashley Hamilton, the family was told “No” multiple times by North Lamar High School Principal Mark Keith when they asked for a chair to be placed at graduation ceremonies in Kaylee’s honor.

“This may be just a chair, and that’s just it, it’s a chair. No big deal… but to us, it’s a special memory, it’s cherishing a memory that would have been so much more beautiful if she was in fact here, it’s knowing that if she were here with all of us she would be sitting in that exact chair,” Hamilton said in an email to Keith. “It’s just a little something for us. I also feel like it’s a good reminder to anyone that you need to live your life to the fullest because you are not promised tomorrow.”

But, her email fell on deaf ears. That’s when she took to social media for support.

“Never in my 31 years of life would I have imagined I’d be arguing over a chair,” she wrote on Facebook. “A freaking graduation chair at that. But, you can bet my sweet girl I’ll fight to keep your memory alive, and for what you deserve. A hero deserves nothing less, and if they can’t see that, they are blind.”

Many people responded and the post was shared more than 100 times on Hamilton’s Facebook page.

“North Lamar High School needs to do better,” one person said in the comments.

“This is so sad, I don’t see why anyone wouldn’t do that,” another said.

“This is unacceptable. I have attendees multiple NL graduations, including my own, where there were (sometimes multiple) chairs to honor classmates who had passed,” another person added.

Many people agreed and, together with local news stations – including eExtraNews – the pressure was put on the North Lamar administration.

“We were told her chair would be ‘in the way’ of the students around it and they didn’t want to take the shine away from the other seniors actually graduating that day,” Hamilton explained. “Insensitive excuse if you ask me, because if she were here it wouldn’t have been in the way.”

Late Wednesday night, Hamilton received word they had won and Kaylee would get her chair at graduation.

“We got our girl a chair,” Hamilton proclaimed online.

Although the family is pleased that Kaylee will be honored and remembered at graduation ceremonies, they are understandably frustrated that it was so difficult to make it happen.

“This shouldn’t have been a question period,” said Hamilton. “I’m not sure where NL got so off track. I know numerous kids who have passed and this was done for them, no question. If the family wants it, it should be done. It’s a shame it took me posting on social media and the community rallying behind me to get it done.”

eExtraNews reached out to Keith, Secretary to the Superintendent Launa Doyal, and Superintendent Kelly Stewart, but never heard back as of publication time.

Local news content is sponsored by Quality Roofing. Click here to learn more: http://bit.ly/2YJC6MY