Education Centre
545 11th Street East • Prince Albert, SK • S6V 1B1
Phone: (306) 764-1571   Fax: (306) 763-4460
Robert Bratvold, Director of Education

 

April 9, 2018

Dear Students, Families, Staff, and Community,

It is with the deepest sadness that we mourn Friday’s horrific accident that injured 14 players and claimed the lives of 15 members of the Humboldt Broncos hockey team. Our thoughts and prayers are with the parents/caregivers, families, friends, teammates, classmates, billets, coaches, teachers, staff, fans, and others who have been impacted by this tragedy.

The tragic bus accident on Friday has had an impact on countless people across the province and beyond. On the night of the accident, we contacted the Director of Education for Horizon School Division to offer SRPSD’s condolences and support and let them know that our counsellors, trauma response team and others would be available if they are needed.  Since then we have sent a team of 8 expert counsellors who will spend several days supporting the staff and students in Humboldt and the surrounding area.

We have also identified some of our students and staff who have direct connections to the victims and we will be providing support for them.  Tragedies like this will affect people in various ways, often triggering responses from incidents in their past. As parents or other important adults in the lives of children, please make a special effort to ensure that our young people are able to manage their response to this high profile trauma in a healthy way.  Counselling and conversation is available in various places in the community, but please be sure to contact your child’s teacher if additional support is needed and we can connect students to that support.

It has been encouraging to see the support that our staff and students are showing to each other and to our neighbours who may be struggling.  SRPSD has always been known for its sense of family and caring and I know that we will come together to continue to offer each other strength and support in this difficult time. It is important to keep the victims and their families in our thoughts and prayers, but I also encourage you to find ways to take action as we support our friends in concrete ways.

 

Yours in Education,

Robert Bratvold
Director of Education