It is with great sadness that I write to inform you of the death of two young people from our school community, Jess Moses, a Grade 11 student and his brother Shane, who just recently completed his graduation requirements at McNair.  The two brothers were killed in a single vehicle car accident early Saturday morning.  The RCMP have informed us that neither brother was the driver of the vehicle and the cause of the accident is currently being investigated.

It is important to remember that everyone does not react to a death in the same way. There are a range of possible reactions to the death of a student at a school. These may include  emotional outbursts, quiet sadness, anger or passivity and withdrawal. These are all normal expressions of grief.  None of these reactions are more “normal” than others and it will be helpful to let your son or daughter know this.  It is also important to be aware that these behaviours might not surface right away or reactions may actually be in response to past losses in your family that this event has brought to the surface.  I encourage you to speak openly with your son or daughter regarding his or her reactions and feelings regarding the deaths of Shane and Jess.

In order to help students and staff work through this time, special counselling services have been made available to the school today and will continue to be available throughout the week and longer if required.  Teachers have taken some class time to explain the situation, acknowledge students’ feelings and address their concerns in an open and honest manner.

The school district website contains a helpful resource for parents to better understand the grief process in youth.  At www.sd38.bc.ca on the district Homepage, you will see a heading entitled Resources.  When you click on it, one of the choices will be Parent and Community Information.  This link will take you to Health and Safety.  On this page you will find two pamphlets under Dealing With Grief.   “Making Sense of the Pain” is written for the parents of adolescent students and is available in a Chinese translation as well.

We are very saddened by this loss to our school community and extend our deepest sympathies to the Moses family and friends.

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Scarr

Principal

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