Collinsville Unit 10 has deployed the Help and Response Team to Collinsville High School to help students and staff cope with the death of a 16-year-old Katelynn Fancher during the weekend.
Photo by Roger Starkey
Fancher, a freshman at CHS, died from injuries sustained in a rollover SUV crash in Hamilton County, Ill. Saturday night. Three others from Collinsville, and one from McLeansboro, also died in the crash. The driver of the SUV involved in the accident is being treated at Deaconess Hospital in Evansville, Ind.
(See related story: http://metroindependent.com/2013/11/25/four-from-collinsville-die-in-rollover-suv-crash/2464/)
The Help and Response Team (HART), arrived at CHS early Monday and met with faculty members before school began, HART member Kristin Trapp said. The team, comprised of teachers, social workers, nurses, counselors and school psychologists, is deployed to schools throughout the district in time of crisis to provide structure to students and staff.
Monday, the team asked the staff members to read a scripted announcement to their classes. The scripts, from The National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children, are to ensure all teachers are providing consistent information to the students. Trapp said.
Trapp, who is also a CHS social worker, said the team will spend the day in the classrooms most affected by the tragedy. The team gives students and faculty in the classrooms the facts about the incident that are known at the time. “We want to dispel rumors as much as possible,” Trapp said.
Students are encouraged to ask questions and share memories. The team tells students what they can expect now and in the future as they deal with the grief of loss.
The team also helps reminds the students how to cope with tragedy, lessons they have usually learned in previous Health classes, HART member Kevin Pysz, a Collinsville Middle School Health teacher, said. Students are encouraged to get back into their regular routine, keep an eye on friends who may be grief stricken for an unusually long time, and to watch for harmful behaviors. They are also encouraged to seek additional help if they cannot move past the grief.
“It is OK to cry, it’s OK to be sad,” Pysz said the HART members tell students, who can expect initial feelings of shock and anger. The team also tells the children whom they can speak with in the future.
In addition to the classroom visits, an area was set aside Monday for faculty and students who want to speak with someone in a personal setting. Team members are also available to provide coverage in the classrooms of teachers affected by the tragedy who needed a break.
HART will conclude activities today with a staff meeting after school is dismissed. The team’s work will not be complete, however. Team members will be at CHS to follow up with students who are most affected by the student’s death. Further grief counseling will also be offered to staff.
