PORTLAND, Maine — The recent tragic mass shooting in Lewiston has left a profound impact on communities across the state, especially touching the tight-knit deaf community.
Parents and educators are faced with the challenging task of discussing the incident with children, including the approximately 800 students in Maine who are deaf or hard of hearing.
East End Community School is one of three Maine Educational Center for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (MECDHH) classrooms in Portland, catering to students from across the state.
"Their sending schools will send them here. We have a lot of children from [the] Biddeford-Saco area but there [are] students from Lewiston that attend here as well," Joanie Grondin, a K-4 teacher of deaf students, said.
Grondin recognizes the visual nature of her students' learning styles. In response to the tragedy, she devised a unique way to approach the topic with her students—recognizing for some, it hits very close to home.
"I said our hearts are sad and with Lewiston right now. They kind of understood that, and I showed them a calendar, October 25. I said we were in school that day, but then not the two days after, and students were like, 'Yeah, why? What happened?' So, I said, on October 25th, something sad happened, and explained there was a violent crime in our hometown, and I was able to get through to them that way," Grondin said.
Other educational institutions, such as Lyman Moore Middle School and Portland High School, which also have deaf and hard-of-hearing classrooms, adopted Grondin's approach.
MECDHH Elementary Coordinator Melanie Bowlus notes that all three of the schools used Grondin's PowerPoint presentation, making age-appropriate modifications to ensure effective communication with older students.
Regardless of grade level, students across these schools realized the impact of the tragedy on their tight-knit communities.
"Our students, it affected them, some personally, some just through the community, so that was a big challenge. We wanted to honor them and make sure they have the same information as their hearing peers," Grondin said.
These educators never imagined they would have to teach their students about such a tragic event.
However, their thoughtful and inclusive approach emphasizes the importance of providing support and information to all students.