By Adrienne Fawcett

As news of the death of another classmate traveled through the Lake Forest High School community, students found themselves struggling with life’s big questions: Why? How? What next?

They asked these questions in 2010 when their classmate Brendan Tuohy died at the start of his sophomore year. And again less than a year later after junior Ellie Burns lost her life in a freak camping accident. And again seven weeks ago when sophomore Farid Hussain was killed by a train.

And they asked the questions again this week upon learning freshman William Laskero-Teskosi was found dead on the railroad tracks after being struck by a train in front of the high school.

Why? How? … What next?

One thing students could do next: Wear purple. The word got around via Facebook, texts, conversations in the hallway. Wear purple to school on Wednesday in honor of Will.

“Someone said purple was Will’s favorite color. It may not be true, but that is what the students started telling people to do,” said Syler Thomas, the high school pastor at Christ Church in Lake Forest, which Will attended during his middle school years and where his mother is a member.

So they did–friends, acquaintances, kids who didn’t even know Will wore purple to school on Wednesday.

Many students met with social workers and counselors at school, visited CROYA or attended prayer groups at local churches. Eighty students showed up for bible study at the Church of St. Mary in Lake Forest on Tuesday night.

“We don’t usually have 80. We usually we have 15,” said youth minister Lillie Romeiser. “A lot of the teens I had never met or seen. They were reaching out, looking for somewhere to go.”

What did she say to bring them comfort? What can anyone say?

It’s not what you say that matters, she said.

“For one thing, let the teens express themselves and their emotions–the good and the bad. Provide a listening ear. Be someone who is not going to judge them or tell them it’s right or wrong to feel a certain way. Provide a support system.

“Telling people they are loved is the best thing we could ever do. That’s the main message,” she said.

Certified grief and life crisis coach Maria Malin of Lake Forest shares a similar view.

“Grief stemming from tragic, sudden loss is best shared with others,” she said. “Studies show that for especially for our youth, it is essential to find safe places to share common feelings and reactions, know they are not alone, and have active listeners available to them. The outward expression of acute grief feelings helps foster long-term healing and helps prevent children from desensitizing themselves to death.”

Maria is again offering complimentary one-on-one or group sessions for youth suffering from the recent tragedies in our community. (Email her at maria@movingforwardhangingon.com)

At Christ Church, Pastor Thomas’s regular Wednesday night meeting attracted 30 teens–half of whom he’d never seen before. “They were definitely still in a state of shock,” he said.

What did he say to the students, especially those who knew Will well?

“What I wanted to make sure I communicated first and foremost was that it’s natural in a situation like this to look back and think: Could I have done something more? Could I have done something to prevent this?”

So for Pastor Thomas, the most important message to get across to kids is this: What happened on Tuesday is not anyone’s fault.

“You can’t carry that kind of guilt around. My goal is to communicate as clearly as I can that this is a normal feeling but a feeling you need to deal with and work hard toward eliminating and really calling it out as a lie, because it is simply: If any one of us could have known that this was going to happen, we obviously would have done anything we could have. But because we didn’t know, we couldn’t. There is nothing else we could do,” he said.

At the high school, social workers, counselors and teachers met with individual freshman classes on Wednesday. In an email to parents, Principal Jay Hoffman said additional adult interaction and supervision would be provided in common areas of the school all week. He stressed that support is always available to students, and that during this time of loss it will be even more evident and focused for students in particular need.

In the email, he said the school is assembling a team including representatives from LFHS, LF District 67, LB District 65, parent leaders, CROYA, LEAD, and local police to explore local and national resources to best support the student, faculty, and parent community.