Grieving school takes a break
Range Lake North School will be open Monday and Tuesday only for activities, as students and staff deal with recent tragedies
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Friday, December 16, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Hit hard by recent tragedies, students and staff at Range Lake North School are getting a much needed break next week.
Yk1 board chair John Stephenson, left, and board superintendent Metro Huculak discuss the recent tragedies at Range Lake North School at Tuesday night's board meeting. Regular classes at the school have been cancelled for Monday and Tuesday so staff can receive counselling after the recent deaths of Grade 6 student Ava Lizotte last week and teacher Marilyn Morrison last month. - John McFadden/NNSL photo |
The school community has been reeling after suddenly losing a student and teacher in about the span of one month. Because of the trauma, Metro Huculak, chair of Yellowknife Education District No. 1 (Yk1), is allowing staff and students to start their Christmas break two days early.
"Staff and students at Range Lake North School have come under considerable duress due to the sudden passing of a teacher (Marilyn Morrison) and a Grade 6 student (Ava Lizotte)," Huculak stated in a letter sent to parents Wednesday.
"It is my opinion staff need some quiet time and support from grief counsellors and students are ready for vacation due to these unfortunate circumstances. As a district, the mental health of our staff and students is important."
The letter went on to state Huculak was arranging for staff from other schools, the district office, substitute teachers and the NWT Teachers' Association to organize activity days at Range Lake North School Monday and Tuesday for parents to send their children to if they choose. He said he was also working with the City of Yellowknife to arrange venues for those two days, and that a list of activities would be sent out today.
"Please let the school office know so we can plan accordingly for student numbers," stated the letter.
At the Yk1 board meeting on Tuesday night Huculak said Yellowknife itself is a tight-knit community and Range Lake North School is an extension of that community.
"It's like a family and it's like you lose a family member," he said. "(Ava's mother) Courteney worked here in the board office and we really feel for her."
He added these tragedies would have been difficult to deal with if they had happened across the city but the fact they all happened within one school makes it that much more difficult.
The school was previously hit with tragedy when student Malcolm Austin died at age six of brain cancer in August 2015.
 | 'A school is like a little village' | 
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John Stephenson, chair of the Yk1 board, said the deaths have been a blow to everyone associated with the school and beyond.
"A school is like a little village," he said. "When a desk is empty in front of a group of students, it's a big blow."
Range Lake North School principal Jodi Lee-Lewis said she is very appreciative of the support from the board for her roughly 300 students and 35 staff members.
"It's about honouring who they were and remembering and celebrating who they were," she said.
The NWT's chief public health officer Dr. Andre Corriveau said he believes the school board is doing the right thing by treating the stress that students and staff may be going through.
"Any traumatic event has impacts on people and the capacity to cope with it varies between individuals," he said. "Some people can manage without additional support ... If the school counsellors notice a child having difficulties then they can make referrals to the mental-health system where we have counsellors available. It's a traumatic event whenever someone close to you dies suddenly."
According to Sarah Erasmus, a close friend of the Lizotte family, it is believed Ava contracted a form of sepsis. The Mayo Clinic's website describes sepsis as a potentially life-threatening complication of an infection, typically through a wound. Sepsis can be caused by a bacterial, fungal or viral infection.
Corriveau said he could not speak about the case specifically but said sepsis could be contracted in any number of ways.
"If you have a cut or a sore throat and are not responding the way you would expect to then you should bring the concern for medical attention so the infection can be treated before it enters the bloodstream," he said.
"(Death) is not a common outcome in healthy people. It's a rare event in a healthy young person. Sometimes there is no explanation."
