I’m sad to inform you that one of our students, Dillon Henry, who just completed his junior year at Palihi, died on July 5, 2007 in a car crash.

His funeral will take place on Tuesday, July 10, 2007 at Mt. Sinai Memorial Park and Mortuary, 5950 Forest Lawn Drive, LA, CA 90068. Their number is 800-600-0076.

For those who may not have had the pleasure of teaching or knowing Dillon he was a terrific writer. Smart, gifted and inquisitive, creative, personable and energetic.

He was one of those students who lights up a class with his enthusiasm, his intelligence, his wit and his desire to improve his work. By age 16, he had already been published in a magazine that focused, of all things, on grieving.

His essay centered around on a boyhood friend who had died at a very young age. Dillon was proud of that publication and proud that the parents of his friend had his writing that honored this child and would live on afterwards.

I witnessed Dillon’s talents and witnessed how beloved he was by his classmates when I was fortunate enough to be his tenth grade English teacher. I have heard from some of his friends and classmates, who as I, am devastated by his loss.