FRANKLIN � The Franklin High School Class of 1972 and 1973 will donate $1,500 toward the creation of a scholarship in memory of Lexi and Sean Munroe.
The alumni raised the money from their 40th reunion, held last fall. The School Committee will formally accept the donation next month.
Assistant Superintendent Sally Winslow, a member of the class, said the one-time scholarship would go to a high school student who attended Davis Thayer Elementary School.
Lexi and Sean, 8 and 7, respectively, were students at the West Central Street school, known for its tight-knit community.
The children died last month in what authorities called a "tragic accident." A wooden chest they climbed into�while playing shut and locked, trapping them inside.
Their deaths sparked renewed warnings about the dangers of the Lane Company chests that were recalled in 1996.�The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission�warned of safety hazards stemming from a latch that locks automatically in chests manufactured between 1912 and 1987.
These chests are still being sold in second-hand stores and handed down in families.
"The classmates that had organized the reunion knew I was working in the district and asked me for suggestions about a scholarship," Winslow said. "We planned to meet in January to talk about it and then the tragedy happened with the kids. So it was a no-brainer."
A scholarship, Winslow said, "is the most meaningful way to commemorate students or staff who have passed.
"It means something to a high school student looking forward to college," she said.
Kathy Dolaher, who helped organize the reunion, said many of her classmates went through Davis Thayer. She was particularly affected by Lexi and Sean�s deaths, as a friend of the children�s grandparents.
"We found real meaning behind this scholarship," she said.
The class ended up raising $3,000 from the reunion, she said, with the other $1,500 being used for a scholarship in the name of Janet McHale, who organized the event, but died a short time before it was held.