Hope for change after tragedy

This past weekend, we were privileged to be in the audience as a group of highly motivated students in the theater program at Santa Fe High School presented Eric Ulloa’s play, 26 Pebbles. Santa Fe High School Principal Carl Marano and theater director Reed Meschefske are to be congratulated for involving their students in this searching exploration of the events surrounding the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School (“‘It’s almost too topical of a play,’ ” March 1).

Given the recent tragedy in Parkland, Fla., as well as the reality of events even here in Santa Fe, Ulloa’s docudrama was clearly meaningful to the young students on the stage and others in the audience. As we approached the Performing Arts Center, we were greeted by a powerful mural clearly expressing the horror of the tragedy of the student shooting deaths around the country, a poignant introduction to the events about to unfold on the stage inside. It was not simply the play but the passionate involvement of the young people that moved us. Their engagement gives us hope for the future. They are the hope for change.

In these days when many of us are concerned about the lack of involvement of young people in important things in life, we were thrilled to witness the caring and sensitivity of the children on the stage. Our whole community should commend the students for their deeply felt presentation and thank Marano and Meschefske for facilitating this event.

Lea and David Soifer first came to Santa Fe in 1989 and have had a home here for 16 years.