Friday March 3, 2012, the students and staff returned back to a full day of school. The school was full of support from the community and the surrounding schools. ChardonHigh Schoolwas comforted by thousands of letters and cards from schools around theUnited States. That Friday was a sensitive day as we tried to get back into the routine of things after the tragedy that struck our small town of Chardon. It felt amazing to be back around all these students and staff members.
Biology and Anatomy teacher, Lisa Tekavec stated, “I didn’t expect much; I was hoping for all the kids to attend school after Thursday’s healing process.” Thursday was a short period where the students, staff, and parents let their emotions out before returning full time. Friday was a big day where students walked their school with their heads held high and having big smiles on their faces. “My experiences were that all my classes reacted different. Some wanted to talk about the tragedy, but others were quiet and didn’t want to talk about it. All the kids reacted great coming back, I had kids say ‘hi’ to me that I didn’t even know and the community was brought back together as one,” said Tekavec.
Students approached Friday like it was a normal day, knowing that there is nothing to worry about. John Connick, a senior said, “I felt great getting back in school. Kids made the best they could out of it. I expected a lot less kids to show up, but all my classmates being there gave me a sense of security that all of us will be okay.”
When the whole student body came back to school on Friday, there were counselors everywhere for comfort. There were also therapy dogs that people brought in for the students to pet and to make them feel better. One of the days there was a mini horse in the school named Giggles, which made a lot of people feel better, and everyone thought it was awesome that a horse was in our school.
Doug Cross commented, “Being back in school felt great. People acted great and all of the students and staff felt closer together.”ChardonHigh Schoolgot back into the flow of things and we are stronger and closer than ever.