This reply may be a little late, but here’s my thoughts for what they are worth.
For over 10 years I was a school bus driver. You’d be surprised how many kids open up to the school bus driver, things you’d never expect. It’s truely a “Class” on wheels, just a different kind of class.
Anyway we once had a young man also killed in a car accident while I was the bus driver at the school. My kids were students there at the time. It was a small public school and of course everyone knew everyone. The teachers just let the kids sort of start the topic. (since most of the teachers had been there for years, but we did have a handful, that were new.)
As the adult in the front of the classroom, I have no doubt you’ll be able to “sense” you classes mood, the looks on their faces, their body posture, will tell you alot of what they are feeling. Some of your classes might not seem very emotional at all about it, depending on the size of the school and how well they knew the young man. Other classes may come through during the day, seeming lost and not really paying attention to you. These will most likely be the students that were close to this young man.
We all grive different…but students need to know we care. They need to know that we as adults may not have all the answers…but they need to know we care and that each one of them matter to us. To go on and teach the class without saying “something” to the students would be a real slap in the face. We are their examples…and if we go on about our normal day without “something” being said, they will think we are cold and non-feeling. Thus we can loose a lot of “respect” we as Members of the Staff. Need to have with them. They also need to know We respect their feelings on their Loss.
The whole school needs to mourn and realize that even though yes life does go on these kids…need some kind of saying good bye.
Our school had an assembly and it was a memorial to the student that passed. This helped a great deal. We (the school and staff) pretty much let the “Kids” say what they wanted to about the student that passed, it was an open forum, of course with the princepal and staff helping to direct things. This helped the kids a great deal. ( I know I said that once, but it really needs to be addressed.)
I can’t begin to tell you how many of the kids did so much better with dealing with this because of the assembly. Many parents may not know the student who was killed, when the kids go home it’s hard for them to talk about with their parents as it’s like talking to the parents about a stranger…if you know what I mean.
By having the Assembly, (after all kids grow up together in school and it’s sort of like a family of sorts at school) this helped the kids through the grief process with people who were close and really knew the student who died.
My prayers are with all your students, the parents and family and you and the staff. May God bless each of you during this time.
