Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Aug 24
Washburn Center Returns Therapists to Annunciation School After 2 Children Were Killed
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Aug 24

Washburn Center Returns Therapists to Annunciation School After 2 Children Were Killed

3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Aug 24

Summary

  • Washburn Center for Children therapists will return to Annunciation Catholic School next week as classes resume nearly a year after a shooting killed two students and injured dozens.
  • The clinicians embedded at the school after the attack, first handling triage and then building an on-call support system for students and staff.
  • Channel 2 walkie-talkies became a key tool in that system, letting teachers quickly summon a “Washburn friend” when a child needed a break or counseling.
  • The therapists’ butterfly logo has become a symbol of recovery for a school community still navigating grief after the back-to-school Mass shooting that killed 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel and 10-year-old Harper Moyski.

Insights

As the Minneapolis school shooting anniversary nears, can walkie-talkies and butterfly therapists truly heal a deeply traumatized community?
Beyond embedded therapists, how is a shattered neighborhood using faith and community action to reclaim its peace a year later?