Luke Somers was Lindbergh teacher Jef Rettmann’s favorite kind of student.

“Luke was a highly intelligent, kind and intellectually curious kid,” Rettmann said. “He was motivated by learning stuff that he found interesting much more than he was motivated by his grade.”

Rettmann taught Somers in 1998, before he graduated from Lindbergh in 1999. Somers went on to become a sought-after photojournalist for capturing images of the Arab Spring as it spread to Sana’a in Yemen. In 2013, he was kidnapped and held for more than a year. Somers was killed by al-Qaida militants in Yemen in December 2014.

Recently, Lindbergh students and staff created a photo exhibit that showcases Somers’ work and features student research on the Middle East. The project connected students to international issues through the eyes of someone from their community. Somers also left an indelible mark on the hearts and minds of the Lindbergh community with his work and legacy.

The 33-year-old Somers held dual citizenship in the United Kingdom and the U.S.: he was born in London and lived in Sacramento, Calif., and Renton. He studied at Beloit College in Wisconsin and graduated with a degree in creative writing. According to news reports, he traveled internationally before he moved to Yemen to originally teach English, then his plans changed and he became a photographer.

“Luke was a person who loved to travel and made travel an integral part of his life,” Rettmann said. “He had a strong sense of being a global citizen and had a strong commitment to social justice.”

Many Lindbergh students had heard about Somers before his untimely death because in Rettmann’s social studies class they read old letters from a Civil War soldier found in Somers’ grandmother’s attic.

That soldier is Ransom Roberts and he was a relative on Somers’ mother’s side of the family. When Somers was in his class, Rettmann helped him research and preserve the 34 letters that detail the day-to-day life of the Civil War, Roberts’ attitude toward the war and Southerners, as well as his interactions with runaway slaves.

“I think the students find the letters interesting because Ransom was about their age and he seems like a likable, relatable guy,” said Rettmann. “The letters make the war seem a little more real.”

Somers work as a photojournalist also continues to make the world a little more real to Lindbergh students. His images were used by media outlets, including the BBC and local publications in Yemen.

For the Lindbergh project, staff contacted Demotix, a photo agency that owns the rights to Somers’ photos, to get usage permission. With approval from Somers’ mom, the agency granted the students use of 40 photos.

“When Luke was killed, I told my students the next day,” said Rettmann. “They were very somber and a bit shocked that this could happen to someone from our community, especially someone that they had a connection to.”

It was important to Rettmann to involve a wide range of staff and students to create the exhibit. Jim Jones, who teaches Contemporary World Issues, taught a unit on the Middle East and had students do research to accompany the photographs. Graphic Arts teacher Jim Goodwin worked with students to print the photos and sought permissions. Art instructor Linda Sismour worked with students on the display and Librarian Katy Olson secured a prominent place in the library for the exhibit.

Staff said students were very serious and curious when they looked through the completed project.

“It made me feel honored that I was able to participate in something that was meaningful and special to the student’s family and one of the teachers,” said Lindbergh senior Simone Childs. “We got to present something in a way that he would have wanted it to be seen.”

New to Childs was the idea that there were actual peaceful protests in the Middle East, something she wasn’t aware of before the project. Through Somers’ work and students’ research, students also saw similarities between people here and people in the Middle East.

“I learned that not everyone there is evil; it’s kind of sad to say that,” said senior Hunter Preciado. “It’s mostly people trying to get by with what they’re doing.”

“It showed that these are actual real people, not just stories that the news makes up for ratings,” he added.

Senior Ben King studied the National Dialogue Conference, which Somers covered as a photojournalist. King was struck by the non-military actions like the conference that brought political leaders together.

“When we started to study Luke Somers it was really kind of captivating to see how they still have hope and are unified through their common beliefs and trying to catch up with other countries and speed up their development,” King said of the Yemeni people.

Students studied the Sunni-Shia divide, how that influenced various countries and conflicts, they led discussions related to Iran, the Syrian Civil War, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and finally Yemen.

“This particular group of seniors are an amazingly mature, insightful collection of diverse, passionate people,” said Jones. “They were truly interested in the reasons behind the story.”

Rettmann was also impressed by the discussions students had with each other about what they saw.

“Several of my students are either Muslim or from the Middle East, and they had great insights into the photos and were able to answer questions about some of the photos,” he said.

Somers’ mom Paula and brother Jordan toured the exhibit and liked what they saw.

“This has been a most positive experience for us; we recently went to Lindbergh High School to view the exhibit, and we were very moved by this wonderful tribute to Luke,” said Paula via email. “We applaud Jef’s efforts, and the teachers and students, in making this happen.”

Students and staff continue to work on three things with the exhibit: a display at the district office, a display at the Renton History Museum and a permanent display case at Lindbergh.

“We will definitely continue using Luke’s photos and the research done by Jim Jones’ students in the future,” said Rettmann. “It ties in with what we study about the Middle East, and it makes the material more relevant and interesting to our students.”