School community pulls together after death of junior

The junior bleachers were a sea of black on Sept. 29, contrasting with the brighter colors filling the others. Seniors, sophomores and freshmen were dressed as characters from every video game imaginable, while the juniors stood apart â€" commemorating the passing of fellow classmate Sebastian Hamilton on the evening of Sept. 26.
“We get a lot of awards for academics here,” said Sean Burke, Hamilton’s counselor. “But when the school rallies around the close friends and family of Sebastian [the way they did], that really shows that we’re a special school.”
Hamilton, a member of the class of 2011, had been battling cancer since he was diagnosed with rhabdomyosaroma, a rare form of soft tissue sarcoma on Jan. 5, 2007.
He was diagnosed for the third time at the beginning of this past summer. During the second week of school, Hamilton sent an e-mail to Burke and several of his friends informing them that the cancer had spread quickly and he was not doing well.
On Sept. 24, the Thursday before Hamilton passed away, Burke spoke with Hamilton on the phone to ask if he would be OK with Burke bringing some of Hamilton’s friends over during lunch.
Burke was surprised to hear Hamilton respond that he wasn’t comfortable with that.
“He said ‘They need to be in school. They can come at four,’ ” Burke said. “That’s the kind of kid he was. He had to miss school for treatments, but he never had a late assignment. He never haggled with a teacher. He didn’t ever complain.”
In addition to focusing on schoolwork, Hamilton was also part of several eighth period clubs, including the Investment Club and Awesome Association. Hamilton was also one of the founders of Fight Club, in which students could come together and play hacky sac.
Hamilton also enjoyed spending time with his friends, especially juniors Christian Barbosa, Alex Hoffman and Michael Wu.
“In French class, Mr. Beeckman started to refer to [Sebastian, Alex and me] as the three musketeers,” Wu said. “[The four of us] hung out a lot so we just started to refer to ourselves as the four musketeers.”
After Hamilton’s passing, the three friends wrote a short piece titled “The Four Musketeers” about Hamilton and what he meant to all of them.
Two things Wu remembers most about Hamilton are his easygoing spirit and his strength.
“You never thought he was sick. He always had a smile on his face. He never complained, except maybe about Mr. Beeckman’s tests if they were really hard,” Wu said. “He was just one of those kids you couldn’t find any fault with.”
Wu also shared a humorous memory about Sebastian’s reaction to the attention his hair got from other students.
“Whenever he grew his hair out, people would rub his head. So he always cut his hair really short,” Wu said.
Hamilton’s math teacher Carol Rychlik, who was close to him, was struck by Hamilton’s warm personality.
“He was an inspiration to me. He was a hero in all senses of the word â€" [an] amazing, caring, sweet, kind, dignified, dedicated, young man,” Rychlik said. “[Even with all] the pain he was going through in chemo, he always was optimistic, upbeat and smiling. I try to mimic that love of life.”
Hamilton’s passing was announced to the school on the morning of Sept. 28 by Principal Evan Glazer over the P.A. system. Glazer informed students that a crisis team would be available throughout the week to talk with students and faculty who knew Hamilton.
Plans to honor Hamilton began over the weekend. The junior class council started a Facebook group encouraging juniors to wear black on Tuesday instead of dressing up for the “NintenDO” spirit day.
In addition, students arrived on Sept. 29 to find the newly donated school rock painted to say “Sebastian, a true hero” by several juniors from the Class of 2011 Council. On the same day, SGA President Connor Cotton announced that $1 from every Homecoming dance ticket sold would be going to an organization looking for a cure for cancer.
Hamilton’s family held a funeral and memorial service to honor Sebastian on Oct. 3, which about 20 Jefferson students and faculty members attended.
The outpouring of support from the Jefferson community is an indicator of the remarkable effect Hamilton had on those who knew him.
“It wasn’t an act, it wasn’t a show. He was just an amazing kid,” Burke said.