Squirrel Hill students honor Tree of Life victims

SQUIRREL HILL, Pa. — Sixth-grade students at Community Day School in Squirrel Hill have spent weeks working on a special assignment in their art class ahead of the day that marks four years since the mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue.

The artwork is part of a remembrance project with the 10.27 Healing Partnership to symbolize the community coming together to remember and honor the 11 people killed on Oct 27, 2018.

They wanted kids to be involved and have their voices heard on how to move forward from the tragedy.

“A lot of times, kids are more insightful than adults. They are really good at zooming out and looking at the big picture,” said art teacher Erin Lewis.

The students came up with the idea to make 16 puzzle pieces that forms a tree. Some kids shared the message behind their art display.

“The message we are trying to convey here is that we grow together as a community and we strengthen,” said student Rona Shelef.

“The tree we are doing symbolizes togetherness in the community,” said student Iggy Goodman.

Andrea Wedner was injured during the attack and her mother, Rose Mallinger, died.

“The support — the community of the world — has been the key to my healing. I could have never gotten through this without the support and things like this that are so uplifting and emotional, but very uplifting and give me hope,” said Wedner.

The artwork the students made will be displayed at a ceremony Thursday in Schenley Park commemorating the victims.

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