Victim of Roxborough shooting remembered at the Pennsylvania Farm Show

Harrisburg — They stood beside six-foot tractor tires and held big, floppy bunnies as soft as clouds, marveling at the other teens with mullets or cowboy hats at the Pennsylvania Farm Show over the weekend.

On Monday morning, though,the agricultural students from Roxborough’s Walter B. Saul High School gathered among the farm equipment to remember one of their own, Nicolas Elizalde, a student who’d never see the show’s marvels, because his life was cut short by gun violence last year.

“We didn’t get a chance to see him bloom,” said Gail Koskela, a large-animal science teacher at the school.

Elizalde, a freshman at Saul, was shot and killed in September when a group of shooters opened fire on him and four other teens after a football scrimmage at Roxborough High School.

A preliminary hearing is being held Tuesday for four of the shooters. A fifth suspect remains a fugitive. Police did not believe Elizalde was an intended target. He was 14.

“Let me just say what should be common sense. Burying kids as young as Nick is not normal,” State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D., Phila) told the students.

» READ MORE: Three teens suspected in the Roxborough shooting committed another slaying the day before, police say

Monday’s event was a ribbon-cutting for Nick’s Closet, which will offer Saul students a place to borrow official Future Farmers of America (FFA) required dress items for official activities — everything from ties to scarves and the ubiquitous Navy blue FFA jackets seen on hundreds of teens at the farm show. The jackets cost approximately $85 each. Nick’s Closet, thanks to donations, would supply those clothes for up to 100 students.

MeeCee Baker, a former agricultural teacher from Juniata County who taught in Perry County, helped organize a fund-raiser for Nick’s Closet. She said organizations from all over the country contributed thousands of dollars.

“Like many people, I was just shocked and devastated by what happened,” she said. “I knew I needed to do something.”

While Elizalde was just weeks into his education at Saul, students said he had an interest in environmental issues. In past interviews with The Inquirer, Elizalde’s family said he attended protests and marches for Black Lives Matter, abortion rights, climate change, and stopping gun violence.

The Saul students who gathered for the ribbon cutting said it’s not always easy to interact or compete against FFA students from other, more rural parts of the state.

» READ MORE: Was the Roxborough shooting another case of an adult using teens as ‘boy soldiers’ to commit crimes? | Solomon Jones

“Some of these people have been doing it their whole life, so it’s intimidating. You have to tune that out,” said Zachary Crawford, 18.

Koskela, who taught in York County before coming to Saul, said her students have much more in common with other agriculture kids, statewide, than they realize, despite the cowboy hats. In the city, though, students interested in agriculture face challenges just to get there.

“Some of these kids take three forms of transportation to school to get here,” she said.

As their weekend at the farm show came to a close, the Saul students said they were surprised by the fluffiness of alpacas, which they don’t have in Roxborough, or just how large farm equipment can get. Most said they wanted to be veterinarians, caring for animals large and small.

“You know most vets are just cats and dogs, well I want to be an exotic vet, like turtles, or birds,” said student Julianna Rios, 18.

They already know so much. Horses sense fear, they said, and sometimes cows too. For sophomore Erica Cox, caring for rabbits isn’t all cuteness and carrots.

“Honestly,” she said, “don’t even get me started with rabbits.”

Elizalde’s grandmother Marge LaRue made it to the farm show after the dedication on Monday. She said her grandson was thriving in the short time he spent at Saul, and she imagined a future for him, outside among the animals. ”He was such a nature lover. He was very kind to animals. Some of his passions were saving animals, saving dogs and cats,” she said. “He was so eager to learn. He really loved it.”