Young Iqaluit students get help in understanding friend’s death

The flag flies half-mast at Joamie elementary school in Iqaluit, where Alexandra Degrasse was a grade 2 student. (PHOTO BY SARAH ROGERS)

People in Iqaluit continue to grieve the death of a young Iqaluit family.

But thanks to counselling services offered throughout the community, students at Joamie Ilinniarvik elementary school got a chance to talk about their feelings.

Iqaluit guidance counsellor Sheila Levy led a team of local school counsellors responding to students’ needs at Joamie school on June 8 and 9, following the discovery of the bodies of Sula Enuaraq and her two young daughters in their Tundra Valley home the day before.

Enuaraq’s oldest daughter, Alexandra, 7, was a Grade 2 student at Joamie, which has a student population of about 200 from kindergarten to Grade 5.

Levy said she spent time with Alexandra’s classmates, talking about what had happened and any fears the students might have had.

Some children talked more than others, she said, “but everyone talked about it.”

Most people in the community heard about the tragedy late June 7. Although classes were optional June 8, “most students were there,” Levy said. “I think people weren’t sure what to do that day.”

Together, the students made drawings to give to Alexandra’s surviving family members. They talked about the last memories they had of their departed friend.

“It’s hard for them to grasp when you tell them someone dies,” Levy said. “But we talked about it, and tried to help them understand without traumatizing them.”

Counsellors also contacted the parents of students in Alexandra’s class, to see if they needed support, too, and to make sure they would “keep an eye” on their sons and daughters, Levy said.

“This is an awful tragedy,” she said. “There really isn’t anyone who hasn’t been impacted by this.”

The last week has also been very difficult for Joamie school staff, she said, adding that they are an “experienced and caring” group.

Joamie school staff are currently planning a memorial service for Alexandra and her family, although no date has been set.

Joamie school staff are currently planning a memorial service for Alexandra and her family, although no date has been set.

Vice-principal Clyde Steele said the school will most likely hold a celebration of Alexandra’s life at the beginning of the new school year.

That will allow time for the victims’ burials and give students a chance to deal with the loss, he said.

Iqaluit police are now waiting on the results of autopsies conducted in Ottawa last week to know the cause of death.

The Nunavut coroner’s office will then release the bodies. Enuaraq and her daughters will be buried in her home community of Pond Inlet.