As soon as he heard the news, Principal Chad Roland began to compile a list.
Dominic G. DeFalco, senior at Kiski region high school, 17, was killed in an ATV accident in Allegheny township on Sunday.
Now, in the midst of a transition to large-scale digital learning and the stress of a global pandemic, the high school is also trying to craft a response to a student’s death. They learn to grieve virtually, providing resources and support from a distance.
“It’s tragic and terrible in any way,” Roland said. “Especially in these circumstances, you can’t do a lot of the things that you need to do to support staff and students. You can’t even bring them together so that they can grieve together.
After Roland learned of the incident from the township police, he wrote down everything he would normally do in the face of a student’s death: reach out to the family. Call a staff meeting. Contact counselors from other districts and county agencies. Compile or create resources to help students.
With everything on paper, Roland tried to create a “virtual equivalent” for each step.
At this point, he doesn’t know how effective these virtual efforts will be.
“When you have them in school, you can see who’s having trouble with it,” Roland said. “It’s a little easier to identify who needs support. ”
Roland said he was in contact with family and high school counselors met on Sunday afternoon for an online video conference. The district hosted a virtual staff meeting on Monday morning and held another online forum in the afternoon for students to “come together and cry together” in a way. Roland also sent a video message to students and staff, in an effort to make the communication more “personable”.
Administrators say several students have already turned to teachers and guidance counselors for help.
“I fight, honestly, because it’s such a human endeavor and you face tragic personal loss, and you can’t even walk into the same room as people,” Roland said.
After working as an administrator for almost 14 years, Roland has already had to deal with the death of a student. It is shocking and harsh under normal circumstances; it’s the “worst part of the job,” he said.
Dave Williamson, one of DeFalco’s teachers, described the difficulty in grieving a student and supporting classmates when you can’t even see their faces.
“It’s really weird,” said Williamson, a social studies professor. “It’s like we can’t be there to [the students]. ”
DeFalco was in Williamson’s sociology class during his first year. This year he was taking Williamson’s economics course.
“He was just a talented and overall great young man,” said Williamson. “He was good on the soccer and baseball fields, had exceptional grades and had exceptional relationships with his peers. Just a good kid, just a good young man in every way.
If the schools had been physically in session today, Williamson knows he would have been faced with an empty desk. He said he would have tried to make the class as normal as possible; but for now, nothing about the situation – or the school day – is normal.
Roland said the school was doing everything possible to “over-communicate and be proactive”, trying to provide resources and comfort from a distance. The staff unite in more ways than one, he said, supporting the students and each other.
“I think everyone’s hearts are in the right place,” he said. “That’s what makes working quite special in a community like this. People seem to bond regardless of the circumstances.
