It was December 14, 2012 and Katie Bisset ’26 was eight years old. She and her classmates and teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School were huddled together, terrified and confused, in the reading corner of their third-grade classroom. They heard a commotion happening elsewhere in the building. The loudspeaker that had just played morning announcements switched back on and was relaying disturbing sounds from the front of the building.
“We didn’t know what was happening, but we knew it was very bad,” said Bisset.
What was happening was one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history. By the time the gunman was finished, 20 students and six educators lay dead. The experience was traumatic for everyone touched by it, but Bisset said she still wouldn’t change a single thing about her childhood.
“I wouldn’t change how I was raised, who my friends were, or where I went to school,” she said.
She wouldn’t change anything because out of tragedy grew a strong sense of family and place, as well as a passionate personal interest kindled by a high-profile effort to raise funds and spirits.
This week marked one decade since the Sandy Hook shooting. Bisset spent this December 14 as she always spends it: with her family, first going to Mass and then either taking a day trip or immersing themselves in holiday preparations such as baking cookies and watching Christmas movies.
“We do what all families should be doing this time of year: holding each other close. Our parents always did something to distract us that day. There was no TV news, and no social media, which is hard for a teenager who lives on her phone.”
Bisset’s twin sister, Lexi, was in another third-grade classroom that day and was also unharmed; their older brother Bryce was in middle school. Both are now students at the University of Connecticut.
“What happened that day is in my head every single day, but December 14 looms especially large over us every year.”
Ironically the Sandy Hook students and staff had just practiced an emergency drill the week before the shooting, where they had to quickly exit the school building and proceed to safe places such as the local fire hall. With those instructions so fresh in their minds, the actual evacuation went according to plan.
Bisset looked back and reflected on the path her life has taken. Knowing that it would be too traumatic to return to the building where the shootings occurred, Sandy Hook students were sent to an unused middle school in a neighboring town, while the district moved ahead with plans to raze the elementary school and build a new one nearby. Some families opted to send their kids to private schools; some families moved away; many stayed.
“A lot of us simply didn’t want to leave,” she said. “We loved our friends and community.”
The students who died that terrible day would now be high school juniors. Each anniversary, many students in the Sandy Hook district stay home; it is understood that those who attend school are likely to be coping with anxiety, and the teachers address it throughout the day.
“They totally understand what we are going through because they went through it, too. You can’t just focus like it’s a normal day.”
So many people from around the country and around the world reached out to this small New England community after the tragedy, to offer support in many different ways. Moved by the suffering of the families, a Broadway producer and director organized the benefit performance “From Broadway with Love: A Benefit Concert for Sandy Hook” featuring composers, musicians and Broadway stars, which was held the following month in Waterbury, CT.
Bisset, who attended with her family, was immediately enchanted with the performance and the world of theater. For the next nine years, it became her world. She took part in eight-week summer productions and holiday stagings of “A Christmas Carol” organized by the nonprofit 12.14 Foundation, now called NewArts.
“I just fell in love with theater and being able to create something of beauty,” she said. “It’s where I learned my confidence, through the arts. No matter what challenges you are going through, art, music, dance and theater can help you find a way out. You learn to just be present in that performing space.”
Bisset’s love for the arts will continue as an avocation; she has opted to major in environmental studies and sciences at Siena, with a minor in political science. Her mom had heard of the College’s excellent program in this field, along with its Catholic tradition and suggested a visit. Thanks to positive experiences with her campus visits, she chose to become a Saint.
“I really liked that it was a tight-knit community,” she explained “Maybe it felt like the community where I grew up, where people know each other and care about each other.”
She gave back to her fellow Saints this past Sunday, sharing her personal story and honoring the lives of her fallen schoolmates.
“The best way to remember the lives lost is to talk about them, to tell their stories and keep their legacy alive.”