By Willa Cornillie
Portrait
East Lansing HS
1st Place Division 3, News Writing
Environmental, Health or Science
JUDGING CRITERIA
- Topic relevant to the school or students and covers health, science or environmental story that is informative
- Sharp, attention-getting lead grabs reader and arouses curiosity
- Shows thorough reporting skills through research and interviewing
- Effective use of facts/quotes from both primary and secondary sources
- Balanced, fair and sensitive presentation
- Sentences, paragraphs of varied length; written clearly, concisely and vividly
- Proper diction/grammar; use of third person
Amelia Villhauer (12) struggled to find someone who could understand what she was going through when her dad passed away from brain cancer in 2018. She was tired of hearing the condolences that did nothing to help her figure out how to keep going. She struggled to find help and understanding but found the thought of attending a grief group nerve-wracking.
“To lose such a huge part of your life was kind of world shaking,” Villhauer said. “It was a lot. Trying to find a normal state of mind and going home and dealing with the fact that he wasn’t going to be there…trying to find a new normal.”
Knowing Villhauer isn’t the only student facing the impact of loss, administration decided to implement Ele’s Group, a new grief support network. They wanted students who have faced the loss of someone close to them to be able to get the help they needed.
“We started discussing the idea,” Assistant Principal Matthew Morales said. “Since we are continuing to have a more social, emotional focus within our school if it would be appropriate to have an Ele’s Place grief and loss group.”
The group is sponsored by Ele’s Place, a healing center for teens and families who have lost someone close to them. The organization has been collaborating with high schools throughout Michigan for years, but this is the first time they will have an Ele’s Group program with ELHS, which will begin Jan. 7.
“[Dealing with grief is] a lot it’s more than just your typical day to day school struggles,” Villhauer said. “To find someone who can listen and understand, because you get sick of the ‘sorry for your losses’ after a while. It’s hard to find someone to connect to and you can talk to without feeling uncomfortable.”
It is the space of understanding that Ele’s Place strives to create with Ele’s Group. When teens and children deal with the loss of someone close to them, they often find that their friends can not fully connect or understand what they have been through. According to social worker Heather Findley, Ele’s Group wants students to open up with others who have been through similar experiences as them and may better understand.
“I think any kind of group can be really effective to have some common ground with people,” Findley said. “What we found is that kids and youth are much more likely to benefit from some peer support and peer networking. Research has shown that peers are more likely to listen to their peers rather than adults, so why not have a safe space for them to have some common ground?”
Student-to-student conversation in the core to the Ele’s Place healing process–teens hearing stories like their own, and being able to share their own story. It is about opening up and being heard, rather than pitied, that helps ease the pain of loss for students.
“I think it comes back to having various systems of support in a school,” Morales said. “Having the feeling that they [students] can feel that the East Lansing High School is a safe space for them and that they are able to discuss, different social and emotional needs.”
A facilitator from Ele’s Place will come to lead the group, as well as some faculty involvement from the high school staff. School counselors and teachers can recommend students for the program as well.
“I was recommended to go,” Villhauer said. “But I was kind of scared to because the thought of just walking into a room and not knowing anybody and talking about this vulnerable event when no one knew who I was…it kind of freaked me out a little bit.”
Though Villhauer did not attend a support group after her father’s death, she wishes she had later on. It may have given her the help she never got, and gotten her through the pain she still deals with.
“I would tell [somebody dealing with a loss], do it if they think it’ll benefit them,” Villhauer said. “Because I know not everybody could get support from that but I think some people really could and I feel like getting it off your chest could really benefit you at the end of the day.”