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State Fair: Rides! Music! Weird food!
THE SUNDAY
Tribune
PAGE 10 Chandler/Tempe Edition
INSIDE
This Week
COMMUNITY ....... 13 Chandler fashion designer on the runway.
BUSINESS ................. 17 Eastmark continues to expand.
SPORTS .................. 20 Boy Scouts helped Skyline QB grow.
EVENTS .................... 23 State Fair: Rides! Music! Weird food!
COMMUNITY ............... 13 BUSINESS ...................... 16 OPINION ....................... 19 SPORTS ........................ 20 GETOUT.........................22 CLASSIFIED.................... 27
EAST VALLEY
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What ASU plans for downtown Mesa campus PAGE 3 Sunday, September 29, 2019
Maggie’s story: A teen’s life cut short by suicide BY JORDAN HOUSTON Tribune Staff Writer
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kyline High School senior Maggie Jones approached her mother, Adele Jones, in their Mesa home on Labor Day. Something wasn’t right. The teen, with long mocha-brown hair, fair skin and crystal blue eyes, was crying. She told her mom she was feeling depressed. Her mother knew Maggie had been struggling with her mental health for about a year now, but today felt more urgent. “She looked different,” said Adele. “She was crying and wouldn’t let me hug her – she would always at least take a hug.” Adele told Maggie that she would seek out a therapist right away. But Maggie never gave herself the time to receive that care. The girl described by her mother as “a beau-
Skyline High School senior Maggie Jones, 17, of Mesa took her life earlier this month. (Special to the Tribune)
tiful young woman who loved to help others” had logged onto Twitter the following day, posting a series of tweets to her 114 followers
outlining the depths of her despair. One tweet read, “i love how nobody cares even when they know how suicidal you are.” Another stated, “this is the hardest thing I have ever [expletive] done… it’s all wrong.” On Sept. 4, she fatally shot herself. She was 17. Maggie’s death was the 36th East Valley teenager lost to suicide since July 2017. Two other teens – a Gilbert boy who was Maggie’s friend and a Mesa boy – took their lives within seven days after her death. Ironically, the suicides occurred within a 10day period that included Gov. Doug Ducey’s Sept. 11 signing of a law requiring all school personnel to receive suicide prevention training starting in the 2020-21 school year. The bill was introduced by state Sen. Sean Bowie of Ahwatukee, whose district includes
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Seton Catholic High celebrating 65 years of service BY KEVIN REAGAN Tribune Staff Writer
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isa D’Alessio still remembers a phone call she got 39 years ago, when she was told not to come to school that morning because the campus had burned down. She was a sophomore at Seton Catholic High School, one of Chandler’s oldest schools. She found out that somebody had intentionally set the school on fire, destroying much of the property. D’Alessio recalled how devastating the fire was
to the Seton community, yet it later became a testament to the resiliency of the staff and students. “We worked around it, we worked together,” D’Alessio said. The 1980 fire was an important chapter in the history of Seton, which is celebrating its 65th anniversary this school year. It forced Seton’s students and teachers to move to a new campus on Dobson Road, where the school has remained ever since. Now known as
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Seton Catholic Preparatory High School is marking its 65th anniversary starting this month and former Principal Pat Collins says there's a reason why many are reminding of Phoenix rising from the flames when they think of its history. (Pablo Robles/Tribune Staff Photographer)
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