Laura Meckler | The Washington Post
ATLANTA — By the time the last student walked past the open casket, hundreds of notes were piled inside, bits of pain the mourners hoped to bury.
The casket was real, but the funeral was symbolic, staged at a west-side Atlanta high school surrounded by poverty. It began with gospel music blasting through the gym. A pastor preached redemption and self-worth. Grieving mothers remembered their teenage sons, whose real funerals were just last year.
After it was over, the high school social worker and the principal sat down to read hundreds of essays retrieved from the casket.
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