Tragic Situation Affects Students And Teachers Alike

Shock and grief infiltrated Timberlake Junior/Senior High School two weeks ago when students learned of the suicide of one of their classmates. An eighth-grade student was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

School administrators immediately implemented their Crisis Assistance Team Plan of Action. Principal Kurt Hoffman called for district psychologist Dave McNeely, along with counselors from other schools in the district, to come and assist at the school.

Hoffman also held a staff meeting the morning and afternoon of Jan. 26, the day students were notified of the suicide. The meeting at the end of the day was to recap how people handled the news.

“Follow-up is the most important thing in dealing with suicides,” explained Hoffman.

Timberlake counselors Sylvia Blaine and Jim Schaffer, along with Athol Elementary counselor Lenor DuPont and Galen Goldman of Lakeland Junior High were available to talk to students that day.

No counselors or psychologists from outside the district were brought in.

The crisis plan guidelines are set forth in the school district Emergency Procedure Manual.

The guidelines included holding faculty meetings, communicating with other schools, walking the halls more, and setting up counseling rooms for anyone who might need it.

Timberlake teachers also were given a memo to read to students during their first-period classes and were instructed to watch closely for students who may need counseling to deal with the situation. Daily morning announcements were canceled.

The way Timberlake handled the suicide is the same way Lakeland Junior High did when it dealt with a suicide there a few years ago, said GeorgeAnn Griffith.

“What is critical is how the crisis team interacts on dealing with the circumstance,” she said.

Jim Lein said the same of the suicide that occurred when he was working during the 1997-98 school year at Woodland Junior High School in Coeur d’Alene.

The crisis team met the night it found out about the suicide. They started by calling the friends of the victim and friends’ parents so they would not have to find out about it some other way. They also informed students the following day at school.

“When dealing with a suicide, it’s kind of hard to say that anything you do is successful,” said Lein, who now works at Canfield Junior High. “We had a lot of adults who were here to help deal with the situation.”

One item discussed in the Emergency Procedure Manual that Timberlake did not do was set up a memorial for the victim. No attention was given to the situation beyond the available counseling.

There are two counselors on staff at Timberlake. The district ratio is 400 students for every one counselor. The population at Timberlake is approximately 700.

This ratio is similar to other schools. For example, Canfield has a ratio of 375 students for each counselor, said Lein.

We’re interested in what you think about this issue. If you have access to the Internet, click on http://intheschools.spokane.net and leave your comments on the message board for the “In the Schools” Web site. On that site, you will find current and past articles written by our student correspondents from the high schools in Kootenai County. We will select some comments from the message boards for future publication in Handle Extra.