Iowa City Schools Use Crisis Plan to Help Students

Ethan, Mira, Eleanor and Seth Sueppel are shown in a recent Christmas picture. Police say the children and their mother Sheryl were found murdered in their Iowa City home on Monday.

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Iowa City Schools Use Crisis Plan to Help Students

By Dave Franzman, Reporter

By Dave Franzman

IOWA CITY- The tragic loss of so many young lives prompted a full scale counseling effort at the elementary school attended by three of the four Sueppel children.

The crisis team plan in the event of a tragedy impacting a school is to go into every single classroom and listen to what students are saying. In the case of Longfellow school, that plan actually started within hours of the news of the deaths.

Lane Plugge, Iowa City School Superintendent, said "our counseling team is validating their feelings, trying to assess what counseling needs they may need and meet with individual students if they need more counseling."

On Monday, school officials did not have complete information and told students only that a mother of three students had died. On Tuesday, the full extent of the tragedy was common knowledge and counselors were meeting with both students and parents and responding to needs.

Counselors say it's important to be honest with kids and emphasize that the feelings of anger confusion and sadness are normal.

Katie Doyle-Errthum, a Community Mental Health Center social worker said, "this is an adult tragedy and we don't have all the answers to explain to kids. Yes, they are going to bounce back and most will be ok but that doesn't mean we don't address those issues today, in the coming days and weeks because they will need that attention and they need to know it's safe to talk about that."

And if kids ask why this tragedy happened, parents should give the honest answer...we just don't know.

Wednesday, Mar 26 at 9:51 AM A Longfellow Mom wrote ...

As a parent of children who attend Longfellow Elementary, I want to extend my sincerest condolences to the families and friends of the Sueppel family. I also want to commend the Iowa City schools and Longfellow staff particularly for their compassion and skill in dealing with the children they serve. Yes, my children have asked questions, but through all of this, they have held up well, thanks to their teachers and friends at Longfellow. They know they are not alone in their grief.

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