Sohayla Massachi Recalled by Former Teachers As Being Dedicated to Family, School by LAWRENCE HENRY Ing” with Ms
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Ad Populos, Non Aditus, Pervenimus USPS 680020 Published Every Thursday OUR 110th YEAR – ISSUE NO. 37-110 Periodical – Postage Paid at Westfield, N.J. Thursday, May 18, 2000 Since 1890 (908) 232-4407 FIFTY CENTS Sohayla Massachi Recalled By Former Teachers As Being Dedicated to Family, School BY LAWRENCE HENRY ing” with Ms. Massachi. called. Specially Written for The Westfield Leader “I also had her mother as a stu- In addition, Ms. Massachi’s mother Sohayla Massachi, a 1994 gradu- dent,” Mrs. Diamond recalled. “Dur- came to the school during her ate of Westfield High School, never ing the year I had her, her mother daughter’s sophomore year to talk to struck anyone as a likely murder a health sciences class about the victim. birth of Sohayla’s baby sister. Leah Jarvis, an art teacher, ad- Gaile Boothe, twice President of vised Ms. Massachi as one of a group of students who produced the 1994 CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 Westfield High School yearbook. “They were good kids,” she said this week, in wonder at how the lives Authorities of one of those students could have ended so tragically. Mrs. Jarvis spe- Focus on Gun cifically recalled Ms. Massachi as “very quiet, bright, did very well — Used in Murder a private kind of student.” By PAUL J. PEYTON Ms. Massachi, 23, who lived in Specially Written for The Westfield Leader Union and was close to completing Authorities are wrapping up her degree requirements at Seton Hall their investigation of a tragic University, died at University Hospi- murder-suicide which occurred tal in Newark last Friday after being Ingrid McKinley for The Westfield Leader in Westfield on the afternoon of VISITING WITH A VERY SPECIAL MOUSE…Mike Nemeth and his daughter, Maria, 2, stopped on Saturday to greet shot by a former boyfriend in his May 10. “Minnie the Post Mousetriss” in the front of the Westfield Post Office. Minnie came to town to lend her support for the Central Avenue duplex two days ear- Sohayla Massachi In the hours and days which Food Drive sponsored by the Post Office. Maria got a special Tootsie Pop from the “Mousetriss.” lier. followed, authorities pieced to- The former boyfriend, 24-year-old gether a bizarre set of circum- Christopher Honrath, fatally shot gave birth to her little sister. stances which culminated in the himself after critically wounding Ms. “She was an excellent student, a murder of Sohayla Massachi, 23, Westfield Planning Bd. Sorts Out Massachi. Authorities said he ab- caring individual. She helped out at by an ex-boyfriend, Christopher ducted her near the Seton Hall cam- home and loved doing it,” her teacher Honrath. Honrath, 24, then com- pus in South Orange and drove her to said. mitted suicide. the Westfield apartment on the after- Mrs. Diamond also remembered Earlier that day, police re- Plan For East Broad Street Site noon of May 10. that Ms. Massachi had graduated ported that the two had been in Thom Hornish, a history teacher with honors, had been a member of Superior Court in Elizabeth for By MELISSA A. BETKOWSKI neighbors of the property in question 111 parking spaces and the appli- and cross-country and track coach at the National Honor Society and had Specially Written for The Westfield Leader a hearing, as per a request by had objected to the plans being dis- cant is proposing three spaces and Westfield High for 28 years, shared founded an Amnesty International Ms. Massachi, to make a tempo- The Westfield Planning Board held cussed. using municipal parking lots to Mrs. Jarvis’ astonishment at the mur- chapter at the high school. a special meeting Monday to discuss rary restraining order she had Those plans by Ward and make up for the balance of parking. der. She was proud of her family, and filed against Honrath permanent. a controversial proposal by Ward O’Donnell call for an addition to be The board, however, was again “When this incident came up, I showed it at school, her former and O’Donnell Property Develop- However, because Ms. built onto the rear of the building for unable to render a decision on this said, ‘Naw, Jeez, it just couldn’t hap- teacher noted. Massachi had a class at Seton ment Co., LLC, owners of the New an exterior stairway and handicap proposal as Glenn Kienz, attorney pen,’” said Mr. Hornish. “She even had her stepfather come Orleans-style apartments at 159-169 Hall University in South Orange lift so that the existing apartment for those opposed to the plans, Mathematics teacher Merilyn Dia- in to talk about his experiences in that day, a court decision on the East Broad Street. space could be used as a catering raised a number of procedural ob- mond said she felt “a special bond- Desert Storm,” Mrs. Diamond re- The hearing of the proposal by matter was postponed. facility. The applicant is seeking a jections. Reports indicate that Honrath Ward and O’Donnell had been held variance regarding parking. In an interview with The Westfield over from a previous meeting when kidnapped Massachi in front of The Land Use Ordinance requires Leader, Mr. Kienz said that it was the Seton Hall campus, forcing his feeling that the application had her into his car in front of two not been properly filed and that the 17-year-old witnesses. Planning Board could not accu- One of the girls ran to univer- rately hear the application. sity security guard Darrell Wil- After a lengthy debate, the board liams, 33, of Newark, for help. decided to adjourn the meeting and After consulting with his super- allow Mr. Kienz to present his ob- visor, Lloyd Pearson, 32, of New- jections in written form to Paul ark, Mr. Williams is alleged to Strauchler, attorney for the Plan- have refused to offer assistance, ning Board, by Monday, May 22. telling the witness she would “He was alluding to several dif- have to walk to the South Or- ferent procedural objections,” Mr. ange Police Department – lo- Strauchler said in an interview with cated a half mile away on South The Leader. “Some may have been Orange Avenue. minimal, but it was difficult to tell.” Honrath, meanwhile, took Ms. Mr. Strauchler, after reviewing Massachi back to his one-bed- Mr. Kienz’s objections, may con- room, second-floor duplex apart- vene a meeting with Mr. Kienz and ment, where he shot her before Arthur Attanasio, attorney for Ward killing himself. and O’Donnell, to discuss the ob- Ms. Massachi, who was shot jections. in the back of the head, died In other business, the Planning ENJOYING HAPPIER TIMES…Sohayla Massachi, who was killed by her Friday at University Hospital in Board approved plans for a one-story former boyfriend Christopher Honrath in Westfield on May 10, was a member Newark. Honrath died at the Kerrianne Spellman Cort for The Westfield Leader addition to a building at 132 South LOLLING AROUND IN THE LAKE…A mother goose and her babies were still of the Italian Club at Westfield High School. Pictured, left to right, are: Ms. celebrating Mother’s Day in the warm Monday sunshine at Lake Surprise in Avenue, East, which is currently the Massachi, Janna Chernetz and Erin Murphy. CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 Watchung. CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 Math Supervisor Evaluates Pilot Programs; Updates on School Construction Reported By LAWRENCE HENRY National Council of Teachers of scores “might go up, or they might a question about how and when stu- Specially Written for The Westfield Leader Mathematics (NCTM). go down. We couldn’t make our de- dents use calculators in their math Westfield’s elementary grades ap- Ms. Kiczek said that now, near the termination based solely on that.” classes. pear ready to adopt Everyday Math end of the first “piloting” year, “It Ms. Kiczek said it could take “as “Calculators have a place” in math as a standard curriculum, according became increasingly clear that the long as five years” for test scores to classes, said Ms. Kiczek. “It depends to a report presented by the district’s Math Trailblazers teachers were change in any way from the new on how the classroom teacher uses Math Supervisor for Grades K-8 much less enamored of their materi- curriculum. them.” Regina Kiczek at Tuesday’s meeting als than the Everyday Math teach- What is the current math program? Ms. Kiczek said she has seen some of the Westfield Board of Education. ers.” Board Member Eileen Satkin asked teachers use calculators all the time, Ms. Kiczek, described how the Everyday Math, Ms. Kiczek said, district has been “piloting” two dif- is used by a number of districts ferent math curricula in four elemen- “around us, like Westfield,” which tary schools at the fifth grade level makes it easy to share ideas and Stranger Approaches Child for the past year. compare results. In addition, Ms. Everyday Math has been taught by Kiczek said, Math Trailblazers is four teachers at Jefferson School and “much less teacher-friendly” than Outside of Jefferson School two at Tamaques School. The other Everyday Math. A first-grade student at Jefferson cated on Boulevard. The incident curriculum, Math Trailblazers, has Next year, Everyday Math’s pilot Elementary School in Westfield re- occurred at about 3:10 p.m. been taught by four teachers at Wil- program will be extended to two ported that she was approached by a The man asked the girl if she son School and two at McKinley more grades in each of the four el- stranger Friday afternoon who at- wanted a ride home. Lieutenant School. ementary schools involved.