(North Bergen—January
14, 2016) The High Tech School French Club and French Honor Society offered an
after-school performance to raise funds for a victim of the Paris terrorist attacks
on November 13th, announced Dr. Joseph Giammarella, Principal of
High Tech High School.
Thirty-nine-year-old
Eric Thome, one of the 130 victims killed in the terrorist attacks, left behind
his wife--and expectant mother—Laurence and their five year-old daughter. An artist and music fan, Thome and his
partner had operated a Paris design studio that specialized in fanciful
illustrations and photographs, after having worked in advertising for years. Thome died in the Bataclan concert hall
attack.
“He was an artist,
always hip, a party guy who loved music," a friend said to a reporter from
the French daily Le Parisien.
"He was full of joie de vivre
and adored his kid."
Students and
facility gathered for the fundraiser in the Blackbox Theatre. Performers sang, danced, recited poems and
essays, and played instruments. Inspired
by a French song, the events of the attack, or a French play, every piece honored
Thome in some fashion.
Performances included
original spoken word pieces and songs, like “I Dreamed a Dream” and “On My Own”
from Les Misérables, as well as
“Alors on Danse” and “Liszt Consolaion No. 3.”
