2 weeks Ago
LAWRENCE — The temperature shot into the low 80s on an unseasonably warm and sunny October afternoon as a group of Frost School students gathered with guidance counselor Christina Spinelli. Cookies and water were served and the word “empathy” prominently posted on a white board for the Rhyming and Rhythm enrichment class. Students sat in a semi-circle as Spinelli queued up Michael Jackson’s song “Billie Jean” on her iPhone.
And then they started drumming on overturned plastic buckets. Romeo Baez, an eighth-grader, said he can “beat up” up his feelings “through making beats.” Fifty years after Lawrence teen Joey Fournier was brutally attacked and murdered at a gas station his spirit remains alive through the aftershool enrichment program in his memory.
The Second Step anti-violence program encourages young people to think about others’ feelings, solve problems cooperatively, and manage their anger in a positive way. Donna Fournier Cuomo, one of Fournier’s surviving siblings and a former state representative, is a driving force behind the nonprofit, which also supports and advocates for victims of violent crimes. “I want to make sure as many kids as possible live happy lives and save others from suffering the way my family did,” she explained.
The son of Marie and Ronald Fournier, Joey Fournier grew up on Tower Hill in Lawrence, was an altar boy at St. Augustine Parish, a Cub Scout, Boy Scout and Boston Bruins’ fan during the Bobby Orr era. He was the second youngest son in the family – happy and outgoing, Cuomo said.
He attended the Greater Lawrence Regional Vocational School (now Greater Lawrence Technical School), where he played football, studied auto body and dreamed of opening his own auto shop one day. At age 17, Fournier was working at a Mobil gas station on Marston Street in Lawrence. It was Oct.
26, 1974, when three men robbed the station of $250, brutally stabbing Fournier 19 times. Fournier died from the attack. One of his assailants was William Horton, a now infamous career criminal who, despite being sentenced to life in prison for Fournier’s murder, was later granted furlough under Gov.
Michael Dukakis’ administration. While out on prison furlough, Horton would brutally reoffend, attacking a couple in Maryland. Horton’s actions on furlough, and the fallout, were the focus of 175 Eagle-Tribune articles over 9 months, which earned the newspaper the 1988 Pulitzer Prize in journalism.
Horton’s crimes captured the nation’s attention during the 1988 presidential campaign between George H.W. Bush, the sitting vice president, and then-Massachusetts Gov.
Michael Dukakis. The events surrounding Horton’s crimes and furlough served as fodder for Bush’s campaign and has been credited with contributing to Dukakis’ defeat. “I think we all have empathy.
We may not have enough courage to display it,” wrote renowned poet Maya Angelou. Spinelli, overseeing Rhyming and Rhythm, had Angelou’s quote posted on a white board for the Second Step enrichment class at the Frost School last week. Students enroll in the classes on their own.
Spinelli said she’s enjoyed working part of the program “as a way to promote kindness and tolerance.” Rhyming and Rhythm uses “speaking, writing, and bucket drumming as a way to promote a safe space for students to express themselves,” she said. Students learn the importance of problem solving, developing positive coping strategies and practicing mindfulness based on three key components: empathy, impulse control, and anger management, she said, Spinelli is also able to partner with two writing leaders from Phillips Andover’s Bread Loaf Program.
Yami Villaronga and Lianna Delacruz facilitate the group writer’s workshop during Rhyming and Rhythm sessions. “I hope to show our students that they are important, they are seen, and they are heard,” she said. Many students have chosen to repeat the bucket drumming class year after year.
“I am sorry about losing Joey Fournier and I am happy to drum for him,” said Romeo Baez, an eighth grader who has participated since grade five. Jetziell Arias joined last year, when he was in grade seven, “because I wanted to learn how to manage my anger and stop violence between everybody.” Echoing Baez, he said he is also sorry about what happened to Fournier and hopes “to be a peacemaker throughout my life.
” Seventh-grader Jeremias Arroyo said an important thing he learned is “to never quit.” Arroyo said, “Always have faith in yourself because if you don’t, you think bad things about yourself ..
My teacher, Ms. Spinelli, told me I am brave and I am important.” “I believe her,” he said.
Follow staff reporter Jill Harmacinski on Twitter/X @EagleTribJill..
