New Teacher Support

» Barbara Pytel - Dealing with Sickness and Death

Your comments ring so true. I have been very fortunate and not experienced losing as many students as you have. But, on the few occasions that I have, most have been in the summer. I would like to share something that seemed to be quite helpful.

A 5th grader was killed on a go-cart. The classmates wanted to talk about it. As the counselor, I asked the students to share memories of the student and they enjoyed talking about the young man--good memories. Then, the topic came up of the parents and how terrible they must feel. The students wanted to do something. So, we made little memory cards and illustrated them. Each student wrote a kindness shown to them by the student, a joke he told, a talent he had that the class appreciated, etc. We discussed funeral traditions, what to say and why we do what we do. Students shared their own funeral experiences of a grandmother or neighbor. When finished with the memory cards, I took them to a local gift shop and they wrapped the cards in a box with beautiful paper and bows. I delivered to the parents on behalf of the students.

So often, the most valuable things we have are memories.