Schools find ways to help after student deaths

LANCASTER – The spring is supposed to be a fun time for high school students, with graduations, proms and the promise of a fun-filled summer just ahead. It is not supposed to be about death and grief.

But Lancaster High School students had to deal with senior Mark Atkinson’s death when he crashed his car May 21 on Lithopolis Road and died.

“All of us in education work with young people, and this is what you fear the most,” LHS Principal Jack Greathouse said. “When someone dies far too early, it really is a nightmare. But nothing compares to what that family goes through.”

But that doesn’t mean tragedies don’t affect the rest of the student body and administration.

“At LHS, we are like a bigger family,” Greathouse said. “We really take it seriously. It’s very hurtful.”

Greathouse sent a letter to parents and guardians after Atkinson died, asking them to talk with their children about their reactions and feelings and answer any questions they might have.

The Atkinson family asked Greathouse to speak at Mark Atkinson’s funeral Tuesday, which he did. Some LHS students were at the funeral, as were counselors from the school.

School counselor Sarah Collins said graduation is an emotional time of the year anyway under normal circumstances. She said counselors have the job of being in a support role while the normal grieving process proceeds for students.

“What we’ve found is there are a lot of students supporting students,” Collins said. “Which is awesome to see. We have worked with students on a more individual basis. But we really are finding that the students are relying on each other for that main support right now.”

Collins said education professionals go into the field hoping a student death never happens but knowing the possibility is always there.

“Certainly, it weighs on you and it’s a heavy heart,” she said. “And part of it, too, is when you’re in the trenches and you’re the ones providing the support to others, is making sure that you have time to step back and be able to have time to grieve and go through a process yourself if you know them.”

Collins knew of Atkinson but did not work directly with him.

The Atkinson tragedy’s impact wasn’t limited to just LHS. Atkinson’s best friend attends Fisher Catholic.

“There is just a different air in the building when something like this happens,” Fisher Catholic Principal Maureen Beck said. “It’s almost eerie. There is a palpable change. You can almost reach out and touch it.”

Beck has not experienced a student death at Fisher, but she has at other schools in her career.

“Ripples of pain go through the entire community,” she said.

She said an advantage at Fisher is that students can pray together after a tragedy.

“They can call on their faith to get through it,” Beck said.

She said such tragedies also allow for faculty to remind students that they are not invincible.

“You tell them that life is a very short process and to protect yourself the best you can,” Beck said.

She said she also advises her students to hug their parents a little tighter and always tell them they love them. Beck said it’s dangerous for students to assume nothing could ever happen to them.

Amanda-Clearcreek schools Superintendent David Gaul knows that things can happen, as he went through student deaths while working in Meigs County, including a car crash.

“It’s just horrible,” he said. “It hurts. Anytime you have a loss, especially a loss that’s unexpected, it’s a tragedy. It’s horrible. That’s just all you can say. You want to provide counseling services for the students and staff and a location that people can grieve and have someone to talk to.”

Greathouse and Gaul both said outside people and agencies also are valuable when death strikes.

“It’s a life-altering situation for those who survive,” Gaul said. “You don’t just deal with that incident. You deal with recurring themes for the rest of eternity. When graduation comes, and then you’ve got the fifth class reunion and the 10th class reunion, these things impact you your whole life.”

Amanda Middle School counselor Jody Dupler said the district makes sure that counselors are available when a student is dealing with a death and that all teachers are aware of what happened.

“We take it mainly as a whole school,” she said. “We make sure that whatever student is involved, their friends and that sort of thing, that we reach out to them and make things available. And even families, because they would be affected also by that.”

jbarron@lancastereaglegazette.com

740-681-4340

Twitter: @JeffDBarron