A year after a 14-year-old was killed at Roxborough, the high school remembers

On Sept. 27, 2022, five teenagers were shot as they left a Roxborough High junior varsity football scrimmage. Nicolas Elizalde, 14, was killed.

On Sept. 27, 2023, the school attempted to take back the day — forever changed, but moving forward.

“We want to reclaim the day for peace,” Julian Saavedra, a Roxborough assistant principal, said Wednesday before calling for a full minute of silence in honor of all those affected by gun violence, and especially Elizalde, a Saul High School freshman who played with the Roxborough team.

“I ask that you quietly remember those that have been lost, and remember the positivity that they brought to all of our lives,” said Saavedra, who, like other staff, wore a T-shirt with Elizalde’s name and jersey number, 62.

Throughout the day, counselors were on hand to help students and staff process their heavy emotions. Students crafted paper leaves to be added to a peace tree. Members of the football team planted flowers in the school’s front yard — crocuses, because they bloom again every spring.

It was important to Kristin Williams-Smalley, Roxborough’s principal, that the day be marked, but infused with the spirit of Elizalde — a young man of faith who cared deeply about issues of social justice and marched against gun violence.

“We’re talking about our kids feeling peace, and being safe in all facets — that’s physically, mentally, emotionally, academically, spiritually,” said Williams-Smalley. Since the shooting, Roxborough has added 287 new closed-circuit cameras and more security for events, and bolstered the social and emotional supports that had already been in place.

Though last year’s Roxborough shooting was a deep and public tragedy, it wasn’t the school’s only one of the 2022-23 school year.

Citywide, 199 Philadelphia public school students were shot last school year, and 33 killed, including Elizalde. But Randy Mills, 15, another Roxborough student, was shot and killed on a SEPTA bus in May, recent alumnus Kevin July, 19, died over the summer, and other students were victims of violence themselves or lost loved ones to violence.

Williams-Smalley was outside last year when students were walking from the school’s football field up Pechin Street after the scrimmage. As shots rang out, she helped shepherd students back into the building, racing to the nearest door.

The last year has been a test, personally and professionally, and Williams-Smalley has had many sleepless nights, she said, but she believes she was meant to be Roxborough’s principal, a feeling that only grew stronger after the shooting.

Still, the violence that permeates the city takes a toll, and not just on young people.

“My colleagues and I are tired of losing children,” said Williams-Smalley, who wore a white ribbon pinned to her sweater to mark Peace Day. “We’re tired of having to have additional supports at schools because someone has lost their life.”

After the football team deposited their crocus bulbs into pre-dug holes in the Ridge Avenue yard, Marc Skinner, an assistant football coach, said his players were “getting through it as a team.”

And though the atmosphere of the day felt mostly calm, with an emphasis on supporting one another, Skinner said he can’t help but think of events of a year ago when “chaos erupted,” shattering the mood after a scrimmage that went well, and dividing the lives of everyone who was there into “before” and “after.”

“I recall that every day since,” Skinner said. “I recall it now.”

Williams-Smalley is working with the football team and Elizalde’s mother, Meredith — who has tirelessly spoken out on her son’s behalf for violence prevention — to get a new scoreboard placed on the Roxborough football field.

“She is my shero,” Williams-Smalley said of Meredith Elizalde.

Roxborough’s mascot used to be the “Indians.” In Elizalde’s memory, that’s been changed — the school’s teams are now the Wolves, for Elizalde’s favorite animal.

“I’m glad we can remember, we can have his legacy and his story as part of us forever,” Skinner said.

Meredith Elizalde did not attend the Roxborough event, but spoke this week at a Monday ceremony in Delaware County in honor of her son on National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims.

Nick, who would have turned 16 on Oct. 8, rarely went anywhere without a basketball in his hand. He made his bed the minute he got up in the morning. He could be serious, but was often lighthearted. He ate fruit, burritos and Doritos together. He loved Star Wars and Transformers and was working his way through the Pirates of the Caribbean movies at the time of his death.

The best way to remember her son, Meredith Elizalde said, is to live like him.

“Can you pick up any trash that you see throughout the day?” she asked in her Monday speech. “Can you play a game of basketball in his honor? Can you find an organization working with underprivileged youth and donate basketballs and uniforms [or whatever they need to bring some fun into their lives]? This is how we combat gun violence.”

Staff writer Ellie Rushing contributed to this article.