Comfort in a time of need

Bennett Venture Academy third-grade student Alex Lazaney-Molina is comforted by organizer Dawn Taylor.
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Bennett Venture Academy third-grader Alex Lazaney-Molina, left, is comforted by Dawn Taylor, the school‘s student-family liaison, right, during an event to honor Lazaney-Molina’s father Staff Sgt. Carlos Lazaney-Rodriguez, who was a victim of the Fort Hood shootings in April. Staff Sergeant Lazaney-Rodriguez was a 20-year Army veteran, and had been an Army recruiter in Toledo. The school organized the event to celebrate Staff Sergeant Lazaney-Rodriguez‘s life, and invited community members to gather outside the school. Alex chose a song to dedicate to his father, an Army chaplain read a prayer, and a color guard lowered the school’s American flag to half staff. After the ceremony, the school provided live music, food, inflatable toys, and more outside the building to celebrate Staff Sergeant Lazaney-Rodriguez “third grade style.”