Friends of Skyler Sonn Tancredi will decorate the walls of Hastings High School as a tribute

Aman Ali • The Journal News • January 6, 2008

• HASTINGS-ON-HUDSON - Almost two years after his death, family and friends of Skyler Sonn Tancredi will decorate the walls of Hastings High School with more than 100 ceramic designs, each a personal reflection on the 14-year-old who died from a mysterious heart failure.

"I chose a rainbow because that sums him up perfectly," said Dana Borelli, 15, as she pointed to the design she etched into a clay tile. "I wrote the world 'Golden' beneath it because any day you spent with him, you knew he had a heart of gold. He had the power to make anyone feel good."

In August 2006, Tancredi died in his grandmother's pool from long QT syndrome, a rare and often undetected disorder that can lead to heart electrical failure.

Ceramicist Cliff Mendelson heard about Tancredi's death and reached out to the boy's mother, Heidi Sonn, who was also a childhood friend of Mendelson's.

"We wanted to say something great about his life and make it permanent," Mendelson said. "We're leaving out the word 'memorial.' We're celebrating his life so we're calling it a 'tribute.'"

"The Sky Mural," derived from Tancredi's nickname, "Sky," will feature more than 100 ceramic tiles designed by many of Tancredi's friends now at the high school.

"Since he died, it's been a really difficult process for all of us," Borelli said, adding that she had known Tancredi since he was in kindergarten. "Skyler has helped bring us all together and this mural is the perfect way to express that."

Participants sketched designs last month for the tiles they wanted to make and spent this weekend etching and carving them into clay tiles.

Then the tiles were glazed and painted with a base made of liquid clay and metal. Once the tiles are heated in a kiln and assembled into a mural, the project should be done by March or April, Mendelson said.

Other projects in memory of Tancredi that are under way include a renovation of the school's basketball court and a riverside memorial. Scholarships also have been created in his name.

Sonn said the outpouring of support reminds her of what she cherishes most about her son.

Matthew Brown/The

Students design tiles during a workshop at Hastings High School tribute to Skylar Tancredi,

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