Kingston Technical High School (KTHS) Principal Moulton Campbell on Friday urged his students to use the recent death of grade 11 schoolmate Michion Campbell as a lesson in how important it is to love each other.

“Learn also to resolve differences in a peaceful way. Each KT star should become and embody a peacemaker,” the headmaster said during a memorial service at Pentecostal Tabernacle on Wildman Street in Kingston to celebrate the life of the teen who was stabbed to death at the school by another female student on September 29.

The service, packed by the school’s students, was attended by the slain girl’s mother Vanessa Clarke, who was marking her birthday.

As the headmaster spoke highly of Michion it was obvious from the expressions on the students’ faces that they still harboured memories of the tragedy that befell their schoolmate.

“We love Michion Campbell. She joined the cadets and she was a very disciplined student. She was also very caring and thoughtful,” the principal said. “Through the Kington Technical Outreach Club she would serve and care for the less fortunate in Kingston Central. She would visit children’s homes and things like that through the outreach club. She embodied love, discipline, and care. Her friends found her to be a joy to be around. They loved her,” he said.

Education and Youth Minister Fayval Williams, who attended the service, encouraged the students to learn from sports how to respond positively to conflict.

She said that at the launch of the ministry’s Just Meds It programme, St Elizabeth Technical High School Principal Keith Wellington had pointed out that in sports players are trained to not retaliate when they are tackled in a way that they think is unfair or illegal or in a manner that they may consider vicious.

“When they lose they are taught to accept it graciously. Let us take some of the lessons from sports because life is going to throw a lot of things at us,” Williams said.

“The important thing is how we respond and react. You have to figure out in that moment how to de-escalate the situation in which you find yourself and still maintain your dignity. After all, that is what we fight for when we are in those situations. We think we are losing our dignity, but if we can help you to pull back, then we would have done something exceedingly important for your survival,” she added.

Imani Duncan-Price, the People’s National Party caretaker for Kingston Central, where the school is located, encouraged the students to see how they can turn the horrific experience into something positive.

“Use what you saw on that horrific day to make a better choice. Michion’s memory forever lives in our hearts,” she said.