BY DAVE BENJAMIN
Staff Writer
Wemrock Brook School pupils were given a quick course in Russian so they could send greetings to children who are recovering from their ordeal at the hands of terrorists. MANALAPAN — The harsh reality of terrorism has produced a poignant lesson in caring for one fifth grade class at the Wemrock Brook School.
After hearing about the inhuman treatment and murder of children and adults at the hands of Chechen terrorists who invaded and took over a school in southern Russia, Jeannette Ruggiano’s pupils decided they wanted to help heal the wounds of youngsters half a world away.
“We were practicing close down drills,” Ruggiano said. “In the course of things one boy asked about locking the doors. He had heard about an incident in another country and with that Nicole Snegur, a student in my class, spoke up and said she has two cousins there.”
PHOTOS BY DAVE BENJAMIN Nicole Snegur, 10, a fifth-grader at the Wemrock Brook School, Manalapan, has two cousins in Beslan, Russia, who were wounded during the recent takeover of their school by terrorists. Reacting to that information, Ruggiano spoke with her students about human acts of kindness and doing good things for other people. Coincidentally, the children had discussed other community service projects that would be performed during the year. This was a natural outcome of that discussion, the teacher said.
Russian writings. “Mrs. [Liliya] Snegur was so touched by our project to collect gifts for the children in Russia that she agreed to come in and talk to the class,” Ruggiano said.
In a talk to the fifth-graders, Snegur explained how a group of terrorists invaded the school in Beslan, North Ossetia, Russia on Sept. 1. She said there were about 1,200 pupils in the school in grades one through 10. The youngsters were between the ages of 7 and 17.
Snegur said Sept. 1 is the first day of school.
“The children look forward to that day,” she said. “There is a lot of love for their school. There are also a lot of fireworks [displays on that day].”
The terrorists who seized the children and adults kept them inside the building for more than 50 hours over three days with no water and no food.
The siege ended in a bloody shootout when Russian forces and armed citizens stormed the school. More that 200 adults and children were killed and more than 700 people were wounded in the siege.
“Three days without water is beyond cruelty,” Snegur said.
“There was a lot of ammunition and things like that. It was very scary.”
Snegur said she has two nephews who attend the school, Arthur, 12, and Akshar, 15. The younger boy was wounded on his legs and arms and is
being treated at a clinic in Moscow. The older boy suffered one wound. She said the most important thing is that the boys are alive.
“One family lost six children, ages 7 to 15,” she said.
“Right now there are a lot of children, about 200, in the hospital, some with psychological problems,” Snegur said. “When they escaped [from the school] they were under fire.”
In an effort to help the Wemrock Brook pupils communicate with the Russian children, Snegur showed them how to write phrases such as “get well,” “feel better,” “how are you?” and “please write back” in Russian.
The youngsters will send greeting cards and get well cards along with gifts such as small toys, crayons, notepads, stickers and coloring books.
Pupil Monica Meiterman went to the map and placed one hand on Russia and one on New Jersey.
“We have to cross one ocean and maybe a sea or two for our packages to get there,” Ruggiano said.
“I am very touched by everything you do,” Snegur said.
“You don’t know those kids and you are so kind to do this. It’s another part of the globe. When I called my family [in Russia] they stated to cry. They couldn’t believe it. They don’t even know us.”