Photo/Marcia Smith
Shrewsbury – When Jim Smith was passing by Shrewsbury center on Sunday with his wife Marcia, he recognized the two students who were standing on the common holding signs decrying the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died after being detained by a Minneapolis police officer last week. Smith is the longtime cross country coach for Shrewsbury High School and as such, the two students were familiar to him. James Riley is a sophomore on Smith’s varsity cross country team and Aashi Shukla, also a sophomore, is on the girls cross country team.
Impressed with the students’ initiative, the Smiths decided to join them.
“Together we got lots of people honking their horns in support and a few made nice comments as some had to stop at the red light,” Smith said.
“I think it’s great that our young people are learning how to peacefully voice their opinion, especially in this very trying week. We all want peace, justice and equality for all. With our young learning this valuable lesson, perhaps we can gradually create a better world.”
