January 30, OHS Special Interest Groups

Greetings OHS Students and Parents –

Upon our return to OHS last week, we have begun working with various student groups to support their transition back to school.  We have identified a need to provide additional opportunities of support for students who were closest to our four students who lost their lives on November 30.  We have also come to recognize that many of these students have a significant need to communicate their shared experiences from the last 8 weeks and witness their classmates’ narrative as a component of their own healing.  Healing from trauma most often requires the need to communicate one’s narrative about the traumatic experience(s) they have endured.  Facilitating our teachers, staff and administration’s narrative about their traumatic experience(s) has been a key component in our own collective healing.

To facilitate this process for those who are ready to share their narrative, Dr. Jim Henry and Easterseals will be offering group meetings to students who would like to participate.  Families can sign their student up for this group meeting by completing the Google link form below. The groups will be strictly voluntary and will occur during the school day for approximately 1.5 hours.  Families should expect their student to miss class instruction, but we will provide them with an excused absence and notify their teacher(s).  We will assess how many students have agreed to participate to determine if any adjustments with the meeting day/time are necessary.  After the first group session, we will also determine if there should be a subsequent group meeting.  Dr. Henry and our Easterseals clinicians look forward to facilitating these voluntary student groups with parent permission.

Special interest group meetings are being offered to help process grief associated with the death of our four students and the wounding of several others.  Individual groups are offered for students who had a very close relationship with one of the four students (four total groups) on Tuesday, February 1, from 1:00 -  2:30pm.  Locations TBD.   Individual group sign up form - click here.   Students who received a separate communication from groups 1-5 below should not select the individual group meeting above.  

The following groups below have already received a separate communication and sign up form. Families should sign their student up for only one group.  

  1. Girls Freshman Basketball & Girls Freshman Volleyball teams: Thursday, Feb. 3, from 10:15 – 11:45am, Band Room
  2. Student Mentorship class: Thursday, Feb. 3, from 8:30 – 10:00am, Band Room
  3. Varsity Football & Wrestling teams: Tuesday, Feb. 1, from 8:30 – 10:00am, Band Room
  4. Boys Bowling team: Tuesday, Feb. 1, from 10:15 – 11:45am, Band Room
  5. Students that were wounded: individual contact, Tue or Thur after school @ 3:30pm; Location TBD

Sincerely,

OHS Administration,

Jim Henry PhD, Director, Western Michigan University Children’s Trauma Assessment Center,

Uriel Stephens LMSW, Clinical Director, Easterseals