Beautiful music played for one of Danvers High School's angels. This year's annual Holiday Pops concert at the Massachusetts school benefitted the Colleen E. Ritzer Memorial Scholarship Fund.
"I don't think there would be a better way to honor her and her memory, because Christmas time was the best time of the year for her," said Dan Yanofsky, a friend of Colleen Ritzer.
Ritzer was a math teacher who was raped and killed, allegedly by her algebra student. Up until her untimely death, she was popular with the student body, giving her all in the classroom.
"She really loved what she did everyday," said Yanofsky. "None of it was to try and win over her students, she really just loved teaching the kids with every ounce of her.:
Proceeds from the concert will go to the scholarship fund in honor of Ritzer, as well as the Danvers High School Arts and Music Program - a gesture Yonofsky says would be very important to the slain educator.
"She was never directly much involved in the arts," said Yanofsky. "I think that anything that the kids would want to do, she would support them in, because she just really cared about seeing them succeed and what they believed in."
As the audience listened to the orchestra, Yanofsky said he hopes Ritzer's memory is not forgotten and people tune in to the true meaning of this holiday season.
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"What everyone should really try and focus on is the non-material, the family, the spirit of the season in making memories with people," he said.
