STUDENT DEATHS LEAVE GAPS IN SEATS, HEARTS
Los Angeles Daily News
June 15, 2000
GLENDALE - Three empty seats at today's Hoover High School graduation poignantly symbolize what the 700 seniors in the Class of 2000 have faced as they journeyed from adolescence to adulthood.
The seats are for Avetis "Avo'' Demirchyan, killed in an accidental shooting; Raul Aguirre, stabbed to death trying to help a friend; and Hamoon Hajianpour, who died in a car crash.
Three members of the Class of 2000. Three diplomas that will be given to grieving families instead of to the students who earned them.
"I think there's a curse on my class,'' said Jannel Diaz, an 18-year-old senior. "I know when I receive that diploma in my hand, I'm going to break down in tears. I want to graduate for them - for Avo, Hamoon and Raul. When I cross that stage, I'm going to think, This is for you, guys.''
The teen-agers died separately and tragically - three who, their classmates say, were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Demirchyan, who was 15, was shot in the abdomen when a gun went off accidentally in 1998 during a melee after school near campus. Aguirre tried to break up a fight last month between rival gang members and was stabbed and beaten with a crowbar. Hajianpour was killed in a car crash at the end of May on his way home from a party.
"If they were at a different place, for a moment, they would be graduating,'' said Raffi Djihanian, student body president at Hoover High. "In a way, you kind of feel guilty being excited. . . . When someone has lost his life, you can't get excited about anything.''
Some students say they are determined to celebrate on graduation day, to honor the memory of the classmates they lost but to enjoy their own achievements.
Nearly 700 students are expected to receive diplomas at the ceremony at 6 p.m. at the Glenwood Road campus. Three honorary diplomas will be given to family members of the dead students.
"It's going to be a happy time no matter what,'' said Maral Sahakian, a 17-year-old senior. "But knowing three of our friends won't be there, it's sad.''
After three funerals and months of mourning, seniors find themselves unable to escape the sadness.
Special events, such as the prom and graduation, reactivate the trauma that students endure when classmates are killed, said Marleen Wong, director of school mental health and district crisis teams for the Los Angeles Unified School District.
"It's such a highly emotional situation. It brings kids to an epiphany,'' said Wong, who helped Columbine High School officials plan crisis response for students after the Littleton, Colorado, shootings last year. "It really is an opportunity to put together the meaning of this event.''
Students say they have still tried to enjoy traditional senior events such as signing each other's yearbook.
"I see them being able to smile and laugh,'' said Co-Principal Pamela Good. "Sometimes it almost seems miraculous. Life does go on. Even when there is a tragedy, we do go on.''
Many Hoover High seniors say the deaths forced them to reflect on life and to mature. The class, some say, is more united and more compassionate.
"No matter what happens in life, we might not ever see each other again, but we will never forget this happened to our class,'' said Christine Hayrapetian, a senior who is editor of the school newspaper. "But just that we've been able to put it aside shows what we were able to overcome.''
There are still obstacles. Aguirre was stabbed when members of rival gangs got into a fight after school. Although the gang members were not from Glendale schools, Hoover students say ethnic tensions between gangs can also be felt on campus.
Since Aguirre's death last month, some students say things are starting to improve. More than 150 people participated in a peace walk at the school last week. School officials are working to establish new programs aimed at fostering communication and understanding.
"In past years, we've been in our own circles. We've been closed up,'' said senior Julio Rodriguez, who was awarded the newly established Raul Aguirre Peace Scholarship. "Now, we're opening up.''
The scholarship was awarded to one Latino and one Armenian-American who showed they were working toward making peace in the community, said Linda Maxwell, co-executive director of We Care for Youth, the nonprofit group that sponsors the awards.
Rodriguez worked to keep schoolmates calm after the shooting.
But students still sit with their own ethnic groups at lunch. The tensions run deep and have built up over decades.
Senior Jannel Diaz said her mother remembers conflict between the two groups when she attended Hollywood High School.
Diaz, like many students, said she wants things to change. She began crying in class recently when an Armenian-American student read an essay he wrote in class about the racial and ethnic divisions on campus.
