Tragedy

A first has happened to me this week. I found out a student of mine has died.

He died in a kayaking accident. He tried to swim across the Delaware River and the current took him under.

It is really a shame, he was quite bright. When school started last year, I decided that I was going to start the year by teaching one of my favorite books, “The Crucible.” Eliezer was our John Proctor - the "star" of the play.

He loved acting the part, especially when John Proctor had to call Abby a “whore.” He took special care to make that line as dramatic as he could.

What warmed my heart about the way the kids took to “The Crucible” was that MONTHS later, Eliezer and K., the girl who played Tituba the slave, had exchanged words, and Eliezer said to K., “Shut up, Tituba.” K. gave it right back to him, “Shut up John Proctor - you adulterer.”

It was one of those moments when you realize these kids did learn… something DID stick, and there’s no way to grade that.

I’m sorry he’s gone. He was a good kid.

Bronx teen drowns on kayak trip BY BOB KAPPSTATTER and MAKI BECKER DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS A Bronx teenager drowned when he decided to take a swim during a kayaking trip on the Delaware River, his family and authorities said yesterday. Eliezer (Elio) Vazquez, 17, was on a day-trip Saturday in the Delaware River Gap with his friends, Daniel and David Morales, and their father, Ricardo Morales. The four were kayaking in two-person vessels down the river when they stopped for lunch at a peninsula. Eliezer wanted to try to swim across the river but Morales warned him against it. "I told him no, that the currents were strong," Morales said. But the teen removed his life vest and dived into the water with his shorts and shoes on. "He just took off," Morales said. Morales jumped into a kayak and started heading for the teen, who started to panic. "He started to yell for help," said Morales. Two canoeists who happened by tried to help, but Eliezer kept slipping under the water. "The water was so murky," Morales said. "He just disappeared ... just like that." Eliezer's body was recovered about 13 feet below the surface. Authorities ruled his death an accidental drowning. Yesterday, Eliezer's heartbroken family and friends remembered the teen, who would have been a senior this fall at T. High School, as a cheerful, friendly young man who loved basketball, his Xbox and art. "He was just a very happy young man with a lot of life ahead of him," said his older sister, Jacqueline Rosario, 31. Originally published N.Y. Daily News on August 17, 2005 Jacqueline Rosario with brother Eliezer's photo.