It was all too evident - an agonising portrait of despair.
The heartache weighed heavily on teachers of the Dunrobin Primary School in St Andrew as the grief arising from the death of a colleague reminded all of the shortness of life.
Many who worked with Janice Atkinson-Reid for years wept uncontrollably as they assembled for the first time in a school setting since the tragic news broke that one of their own had been murdered.
The educators huddled even as they determinedly supervised hundreds of students to whom they had to impart the bad news. Grief counsellors and a trauma team from the Education Ministry were on hand.
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| Bridget Brooks-White (foreground) and Cheryl Taylor-Turgott, teachers at the Dunrobin Primary School, are in tears during a counselling session yesterday, as the school family mourns the death of Janice Atkinson-Reid, who was a teacher at the school. |
In death, she inspired bright hope of a better tomorrow for the institution which boasts a rich history, but has had its fair share of challenges in recent times.
Found dead at home
Atkinson-Reid, 32, was on Wednesday, found dead at her home in Portsmouth, Portmore, St Catherine - her face bashed in, multiple stab wounds, and a cord tied to her neck. She had been on leave of absence since last year and was due back on Monday, but this will not happen.
The police theorise that she was killed in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Atkinson-Reid's husband and her two children were in the United States when tragedy struck.
Education Minister Ronald Thwaites had to share time between Dunrobin and Tarrant Primary School, in the aftermath of the death of not only Atkinson-Reid but Rohan Newman, a parent who was gunned down on Wednesday at the school's gates. more
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