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This letter is in reference to our collaboration last school year providing grief counseling support to a group of elementary school students in need. I want to express how valuable this support service has been for our students. This was an opportunity for this group of students to have a safe space to talk about their grief and the loss of their special person, have support from people trained to support them through their grief, and connect with others who had similar experiences. For many of these students, this was the first time they were ever able to talk and express themselves in this manner, as most do not have the safe and supportive environment to do so for many different reasons. The readiness to talk about this topic was remarkable! It was as if the top finally popped off a very tightly shut container and the contents were overflowing.
For 4 weeks these students looked forward to meeting together with each other and with you/the staff at Rick’s Place to discover different aspects of their grief. This brought up many big emotions for these students, but you and your staff were able to support them through that and get the support of their in-school counselors when needed. I was truly impressed with the ability of you and your staff to navigate through some of their behavioral and emotional expressions to create and maintain the safe space, as well as provide support when needed. The students truly thrived in this environment not only in expressing and processing their grief but also in building social connections. Some students were able to even show empathy to their fellow group classmates, some of whom they did not have a previous connection to.
Unfortunately, due to the COVID 19 school closure our group was cut short. However, when I reached out to you to see about the possibility of having some virtual closing groups, you were more than willing to make that happen! Even 6 months later, these students felt such a connection to this group, that almost all of them showed up. That in and of itself is a very powerful statement. I cannot thank you enough for bringing this valuable support group to our school. My hope is that we will be able to continue to provide this service to this population of students who would benefit from this support immensely. Students who, due to increased special education needs, lower socioeconomic statuses, multiple traumatic experiences and little external supports, require safe compassionate support the most. Thank you for all you have done.
Sincerely,
Linda Toussaint, SAC at Springfield Public Day Elementary School
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