My ideal weekend went to horribly tragic so fast, I feel like I'm still spinning. Last night, I got a call from a parent letting me know that two of our teenagers were swimming in the river near a dam (the kids do it all the time around here) and got caught in the current. One got pulled out, the other didn't. They couldn't find the other boy, Charles. I taught both these boys last year and adore them - they're just really nice kids. Charles even stopped by my room after school on Friday to say hi since we hadn't talked in a while - we'd said hi in the halls but hadn't really talked. We chatted for about 10 minutes, he gave me a hug and was gone...

School was really terrible today since no one knew any more about Charles's whereabouts. I stopped by the river on my way in where a lot of folks were keeping vigil, but I couldn't stay long. The school was so quiet today... Despite all our hopes, I just learned they found his body just a couple of hours ago. 16 years old. Bright, ambitious, interesting and truly a great person. What a loss. Tomorrow will really be hell.