Description:
In 15-Minute Focus: Grief: Processing and Recovery, Dave Opalewski gives schools a guide for addressing the death of a student or staff member, including what to say and what not to say to students along with helpful communication and intervention strategies for school counselors, educators, and administrators.
Brief description:
David Opalewski, M.A. is the founder and president of Grief Recovery, Inc., in Saginaw, Michigan. He is an author, consultant, and a widely sought-after conference speaker and trainer for the tragedy component of school crisis teams across the country.
David has a forty-four-year career in education. He has taught at the elementary, middle, high school, and college levels and was an at-risk counselor for eight of those years. During Opalewski's educational career, he experienced the combined deaths of twenty-six students and fellow staff
members. He was a replacement teacher in a fifth-grade classroom for a teacher who was killed in an auto accident during the middle of the school year.
He retired from Central Michigan University in May of 2017 as Professor Emeritus. David worked part time for three years in a funeral home as an aftercare consultant to the families of the deceased.
Review Quotes:
1 in 14 children will experience the death of a parent or sibling before age 18 (CBEM,2020). This book is a must have for ALL school officials. It is important to know how to respond in a healthy manner when a student experiences a death and or for the death of a student. It is a great reference to skim when preparing to support students. It is laid out in an easy/clear manner. Together we can help students find healthy ways to navigate their grief.
Stephanie Heitkemper
LPC RPT