Teen's Teachers Shocked by Stabbing

WINSTED – Raymond Martin’s arrest sent shockwaves through the community last week. That a murder could take place at all in a place like New Hartford was enough to send shivers down many spines, but for some of those who knew Martin, the story is even more unbelievable.

According to Dave Houldcroft, a special education teacher at Northwestern Regional High School, which Martin attended, the 17-year-old was "a good kid."

"He was. He really was," the teacher said last week of Martin, a tuition student who transferred to Northwestern’s alternative STEP education program from Winsted last year. He said his first reaction, when hearing of the tragic events of New Year’s Eve, was one of shock.

"He never gave us any trouble. His attendance was fine, academically he was fine."

Martin took several classes under Houldcroft last year in Northwestern’s STEP program.

"STEP is a program which replaces full-time education for kids that don’t fit the traditional model," he said. Students in STEP attend for only 10 hours each week, and are encouraged to work full-time. They take basic courses in math, science, English and social studies, as well as earning vocational credit. The program has a "soft-cap" of 25 students, according to Houldcroft. "They need small-group instruction, and they need consistency. I tend not to turn any kid away, because this can be their last hope for graduation."

But while kids like Martin may not fit "the traditional model," Houldcroft said he would never have imagined something like this would happen.

On New Year’s Eve, a house party in New Hartford erupted into violence, and Martin is accused of stabbing Dustin Arigoni, 21, of Torrington, to death.

"He was certainly a capable student," Houldcroft said of Martin. "He’s one of those kids for whom school’s not their favorite place to be, but he did pretty well. He was succeeding academically, he has the social skills."

Principal Wayne Conner said the school as a whole hasn’t been deeply affected by the tragedy, since Martin wasn’t enrolled full-time and so had limited contact with the majority of the students. But Houldcroft said counseling has been available for students in the STEP program. A social worker and school psychologist have been made available, and the incident was discussed last week at a special "town meeting."

"People that were really tight with him can’t believe it. They’re really devastated," he said. "I think everyone in the building saw [the news] at the same time. I can’t believe it. He would not be one of those kids – he’s never been aggressive, not one of the kids to pick a fight."

Houldcroft said kids in the STEP program have to follow three major rules: respect oneself, peers and staff; use appropriate language; and follow directions. He said Martin understood the rules, and generally didn’t cause trouble.

Houldcroft said being a special education teacher, one has to be sensitive to the different feelings the kids may be experiencing. He said the staff on hand is fully capable of dealing with events such as these, and said that at this point things have "pretty much stabilized" at school.

"We’re always here, the same half-dozen faces. Even if you had a bad day, you come back the next day with a fresh start."

He said that while it is unfortunate that an incident like this happened, it should not reflect on the STEP program as a whole.

"We’re really proud of the program; our graduation rate is in the high-90s," he said.