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Booker Elementary Principal Died Wednesday

Sarasota Herald-Tribune photo by ROD MILLINGTON

Emma Booker Elementary School principal Gwendolyn Rigell looks through a photo album, containing a collection of photos and letters pertaining to the events of September 11, 2001. President Bush was at her school when he learned of the attacks.

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By LATISHA R. GRAY Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Published: December 27, 2007

SARASOTA — Booker Elementary Principal Gwendolyn Tose-Rigell died last night at about 9 p.m., school officials said today.

Tose-Rigell, 56, died of breast cancer, school officials said. She had been at the school for 13 years before stepping down in August due to health reasons.

Superintendent Gary Norris said she moved to Sarasota County from Williamsburg, Va. in 1994 and several teachers followed her. Tose-Rigell, who was the assistant principal, became principal a year later.

"It's a very sad day for the children of Sarasota County," Norris said. "Gwen was the champion of young people...she wanted them to have a better life."

Tose-Rigell was principal at the school in 2001 when President Bush learned about the Sept. 11 attacks.

Bush had visited the school, where more than 80 percent of students are on free or reduced lunches, to talk about his education initiative, "No Child Left Behind."

At a ceremony at the school a year later held to commemorate those who died no September 11, Tose-Rigell said she thought that the school's role in the story of the 21st century would be cemented forever.

"It does set (Booker) apart," Tose-Rigell said. "There was another spot on Earth affected by this and it's a more tender spot because it affected children ... Administrations will change, teachers and students will come and go, but they should always know that this school has an important place in American history."

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