6A | SATURDAY, APRIL 3, 2021 | SIUSLAW NEWS
RESPONSE from page 1A
“We’re small enough that
it doesn’t matter if it’s a
middle school, high school
or elementary student. It
tends to be something that
reaches every single build-
ing. We look at where our
contacts lie and where the
ripple is. Then the building
teams move into action to
take care of more immedi-
ate needs.”
The administrative teams
at the facilities then come
into play, incorporating
their counseling staff.
Middle School Vice
Principal Nathan Green
said that his building has
a designated space, such
as the library, for a student
to meet one-on-one with a
counselor or take time to
process.
This procedure is in place
across the district. Even
with COVID-19, there are
identified spaces in each fa-
cility to allow for these care
rooms.
At Siuslaw High School,
“Prior to COVID, we had
a care room that was set
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up that we were able to
utilize as a single space.
Now we’ve identified mul-
tiple spaces, and multiple
buildings as well, to make
sure that space is available,”
said Principal Garth Gerot.
“The kids can stay dis-
tanced and still receive the
support they need.”
It often falls on the teach-
ing staff to alert students.
They are advised to tell the
facts while providing sup-
port and quelling rumors.
Gerot continued, “We’re
trying to get a common
message out, trying to re-
spect the family and their
wishes, so having a sim-
ple, factual statement helps
those teachers prepare.”
The Siuslaw Care Team
also keeps the staff mem-
bers in mind.
“If (the event involves)
an older student, I always
try to reach out to previ-
ous teachers who might
be more personally con-
nected,” Harklerode said.
“We’re also very aware of
those events that might
trigger a stronger response
in some staff and speak to
them.”
By this point, Grzesko-
wiak will be reaching out
to neighboring school dis-
tricts. He works with Ma-
pleton Superintendent Jodi
O’Mara to give correct in-
formation and provide sup-
port to her students. This
is important due to the
closeness of the two school
districts and the many con-
nections between students
and families in western
Lane County.
Through it all, staff is
working to identify trau-
matic responses.
“We really want to keep
an eye out for not just stu-
dents that are directly in-
volved, but also other in-
dividuals who have been
impacted by trauma and
events that happened in
their lives,” Gerot said. “We
want to be hyper vigilant
to be making contact with
the counselors, and admin-
istration as we get them in
contact with resources.”
The district’s counseling
staff will also be in place
by this point, establishing
care rooms and preparing
to reach out to specific stu-
dents.
Counselor Parma Roe
said, “We talk about that
circle of impact, moving
outward from the victim,
to family to best friends,
peers, and then we identify
students in our own build-
ings who might need our
support. We connect with
them and offer that sup-
port.”
The counselors are also
in touch with the family,
with one designated staff
member as the contact be-
tween the district and the
family involved in an inci-
dent.
“We’re just making those
connections and making
sure that families and stu-
dents know we’re here,
we’re available and we’re
ready to help them,” Roe
said.
The Siuslaw School Dis-
trict is making every effort
to respond to needs of fam-
ilies affected by tragedy.
“These situations are
very difficult for the fami-
ly,” Grzeskowiak said. “We
don’t overstep and issue a
message outside or beyond
what the family is comfort-
able with. In some instanc-
es, people have requested
that we say nothing public-
ly other than, ‘If you’re go-
ing to address students, just
tell them this.’”
In terms of this week’s
incident, the district liaison
remains in contact with the
family.
“We know where they’re
at right now and what’s
happening. Right now,
we’re giving them a little
space,” Osbon said.
The district will be ready
to move forward with next
steps once the family is. In
the past, that involved a
grief open house or a me-
morial, such as planting a
tree or rhododendron, or
honoring the life lost with-
in the district facilities.
Later this month, Siu-
slaw’s counseling team is
adding another element
to their training through a
workshop with Roger Bru-
baker, MPH, Sr. Commu-
nity Health Analyst with
Prevention Lane.
The Applied Suicide In-
tervention Skills Training
(ASIST) will take place
locally on April 21 and 22
and includes Mapleton
School District.
According to Counselor
Laura Osbon, “Brubaker
assists with all Lane Coun-
ty Schools on these kinds of
issues. … I’m very glad to
have that resource because,
as we all know being in
Florence, we are kind of at
the end of services in Lane
County.”
She said that Prevention
Lane also gets in contact
with families affected by
tragedies.
During the days after a
traumatic event in the dis-
trict, the counselors con-
tinue to work with staff and
students and maintain the
care rooms.
They use the same format
when they are called to be
a “flight team” for another
school district. These teams
of counselors and school
staff provide outreach and
additional support to the
other school’s staff. In re-
cent years, Siuslaw has sent
a team to Reedsport and
Mapleton, and both dis-
tricts have been available in
return.
Grzeskowiak said his role
is often to be a spokesper-
son, which allows the oth-
er school’s administration
to cope with the incident
requiring the flight team.
Siuslaw counselors who
go end up supporting the
other school’s staff where
needed, including through
operating a trauma room.
Counselor Allison Bit-
ner said one of the most
important aspects of this
room is the log people sign
when they enter.
“If we need to follow up
with any students after the
fact, if they’re particularly
triggered, we can do so,” she
said. “We provide contact
information for the sui-
cide hotline and always put
them in contact with other
resources, including local
resources like the Western
Lane Health Network.”
The upcoming ASIST
workshop will continue
to equip Siuslaw staff. The
school district received
a grant for the training,
which help with suicide in-
tervention and screenings
According to Roe, “When
kids manifest risk factors,
or there are some red flags,
we will be trained in giving
them those screening as-
sessments. So that grant is
going to come in very valu-
able to us.”
Siuslaw’s
counseling
team looks for risk factors
throughout the school year.
Counselor Steve Moser
said, “A lot of what we try
to do is preventative, pro-
active measures to keep
things from happening. A
lot of times, we tend to be
reactionary to an incident,
but there are a lot of things
we do from the counseling
side on the preventative
side of it.”
This ranges from cov-
ering topics like mental
health and dating during
students’ PRIDE classes to
intervention methods.
One of those is the Se-
curly notification system
Siuslaw uses on every dis-
trict-issued Chromebook
in use during compre-
hensive distance learning
(CDL). This program scans
emails and documents to
flag references to self-harm
or suicide, access to web-
sites pertaining to these
topics or particularly dark-
themed assignments.
“It has been a signifi-
cant help to our district,”
Roe said. “This system has
enabled us to reach out to
both students and families
of students who are quietly
suffering.”
Counselors are able
to refer students to fur-
ther assistance, including
the Western Lane Health
Network, a collaboration
between Mapleton and
Siuslaw school districts,
PeaceHealth, Lane County
Government and counsel-
ing services. The team also
relies on teachers and aides
who work directly with stu-
dents.
“Teachers do a really
great job of keeping us in-
formed if there’s an issue,
like overhearing something
or seeing something in a
paper that just triggers an
alarm for us,” Moser said.
Counselors are also avail-
able for one-on-one meet-
ings with students who feel
they need it.
For Siuslaw Special Ser-
vices Director Lisa Utz, the
district Care Team is part of
“it takes a village to raise a
child.”
“From my perspective,
what is evident is we have
a system, we have logistics,
we have ways to do things,
we have all of the different
responses and everything.
The key piece here is all of
these people are human,”
she said. “Everybody re-
sponding to this crisis is
human. So that’s why there
is this beauty of a village
doing this, and the inter-
connectedness of all of us
helping each other out at
this time. … It is nice to
know that we’re all in each
other’s hands, and we’re all
in good hands.”
It helps in the regular
school year and has been
even more important in the
ongoing COVID-19 pan-
demic. The Care Team re-
sponds even when students
aren’t on campus, such as
during summer break or
when the students are in
CDL.
Typically, the team re-
sponds one to three times a
year, both in district and as
a flight team.
“If someone makes a call
and says they need help —
you roll out,” Grzeskowiak
said. “And sometimes we
make that call too. It just
happens.
“Unfortunately,
we’ve
had to do this too many
times, for too many things.”
During Thursday’s meet-
ing, the team encouraged
people to get help before it
got to crisis level.
Gerot said, “It’s really
important to note, espe-
cially going through this
year of COVID, there are
a lot of people hurting out
there. It’s important — for
students, parents or anyone
with concerns — to bring
them to someone that can
act on it. The more we
talk about those things, we
don’t let them go unnoticed
or unidentified. It is critical
that we’re talking to them
that we’re helping to sup-
port people in our commu-
nity across the board.”
District policy is to di-
rect students and families
towards professional help,
Grzeskowiak said, with the
district as just one of those
options.
“If somebody is strug-
gling, don’t shrug it off and
hear them the right way,”
he pleaded. “Steer them to
somebody that can help
them make that contact and
make that report, because if
you don’t, the tragedy that
ensues from that is going to
stick. That’s going to haunt
people. And we don’t want
that either.”
He continued, “In the
case of a mental health
crisis, it is important for
students and adults across
the board. And that’s what
we’re trying to push peo-
ple towards. Go to the
suicide hotline, go to your
local doctor, even go to the
emergency room. We’re
making sure that people get
helped beyond what we can
do for the immediate stop-
gap piece.”
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