The Hancock Central School District welcomed author Marianne Angelillo and New York State Trooper Shannon Hartz to campus Thursday for a Governor’s Traffic Safety Council Assembly presentation in the MS/HS Auditorium.

The socially-distanced assembly for Hancock students in grades 9-12 featured a mixed-media presentation about traffic safety and the possible consequences of risk-taking. Keynote speaker Angelillo shared the story of her 17-year-old son, Matthew, who was killed as a passenger in a high-speed car crash on Father’s Day in 2004.

Matthew was an honor-roll student and athlete who had planned to attend the United States Air Force Academy after graduation. Angelillo has publicly spoken about the life-altering crash and its profound impact on her family and the entire Skaneateles community since 2004, in hopes of preventing similar family tragedies.

The mother of four is a multi-media professional, outdoor photographer and author of the book Sharing My Stones, a memoir of the Angelillo family’s difficult journey and transforming the power of grief, love and faith to continue it.