Teaching Through Tragedy

• A cousin was shot and killed
• A fire burned the house to the ground
• The family pet ran away
• A hurricane wiped away the town

Tragic events, wouldn’t you agree? Now think about a teacher helping a child process and handle these complex issues, all while teaching a large group of students, completing paperwork, grading papers, attending meetings, and managing your own life.

Teachers are not trained counselors, therapists, psychologists, but we play the role frequently. In the face of tragedy, teachers are often called upon to be a support system for students, even when they are sometimes managing their own personal pain. Personally, I have had countless situations over my 20+ years where students have been in the heart of a tragedy, and I am either the first or one of the first adults to help manage that child’s pain.

We know kids are resilient, and oftentimes bounce back from tragedy quicker than adults, but that does not lessen the responsibility and challenges in the moment when kids struggle explaining and processing their grief. It comes in many forms: anger, sadness, isolation, or sometimes all of the above. And as teachers, we are tasked with helping the student’s emotion, no matter what it is.

This is not always easy, especially as a young teacher, but my best advice is that when faced with these situations, prioritize CARE > CURRICULUM. If that means the math lesson today needs to be cut short so you can have a class meeting, so be it. If an individual student is impacted and they need a walk through the halls instead of being in reading small group, ask someone to go on a walk with them.

Last week, Hurricane Helene ripped through the Southeast US, and in an unpredictable turn, landed in Western North Carolina, a region not known for that kind of extreme weather occurrence. As a North Carolinian who has been a regular to that part of the state throughout my 20 years here, my heart breaks for the people and towns that have been wiped off the map.

I cannot help but think, too, about the teachers of that region, many of whom may have faced their own personal loss, now having to return to schools to be the reassuring face for children who may have also lost their homes. Tragedy is not typically something you plan for, and it sometimes comes to people and places that you least expect it. We’ve seen this time after time with school shootings. It saddens me that we have become accustomed to responding to these tragedies, but it’s where we are in society.

As a result, I expect school and county officials will have plans for those students impacted in Western NC upon returning to school. They will inevitably be impacted by what has happened, but I can assure you, there will be teachers in every classroom making sure that those students returning to school are taken care of when they do.

If you would like to help those impacted in Western NC, here is a link to the American Red Cross Hurricane Helene Relief.