School responds after second student death
Printed with permission of Lacey Wood Photography
Jonah Anschell ’23 poses for his yearbook photo during the 2022-2023 school year. Anschell passed away on April 19 from suicide.
May 28, 2023
The school enacted new academic policies and mental health initiatives intended to support students following the deaths of Jordan Park ’25 and Jonah Anschell ’23 in March and April, respectively.
On the day following the announcement of Anschell’s death by suicide, Head of Upper School Beth Slattery informed upper school students via email that grades could no longer drop during fourth quarter.
“The floor is the grade of record published for the third quarter,” Slattery wrote in the email. “Students are expected to take assessments, turn in homework, papers [and] projects, but without fear that their grade could be negatively affected. We want them to be able to continue to have the ability to learn without the added stress and worry of a negative impact to their end of year grades.”
Additionally, the school has planned field days, held chalk decorating on the Quad, brought puppies to campus and hosted Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) counselors to support the AAPI community Park was a part of.
Counselor Michelle Bracken said while individually supporting students is important, the counseling team is working to guide the community as a whole.
“We’re good at one-on-one conversations, and we have a lot of counselors here, but we need to focus on building community,” Bracken said. “This school can be individualistic and competitive, so we need to focus on building a community of empathy. When we have tragedies like this in our community, we’re really good at coming together, but how do we do that in general? One thing that’s come out of this is thinking about ways to promote community, such as playing on the field together and doing some of those normal things that we don’t normally make time for.”
Peer Support Trainee Ellie Whang ’24 said she appreciates the effort the school has made to support students during this time.
“With such difficult and heartbreaking events, the school has responded in the best way they could’ve, given the circumstances,” Whang said. “With a campus of around 900 students, I think it’s important to remember and acknowledge that everyone processes grief in different speeds and ways, so it was almost impossible for the school to meet absolutely everyone where they were at, leading the administration to do the next best thing, which was emphasizing the support and resources we have on campus so that each student is able to have a space where they can process their feelings. I recognize that other students may disagree with me in the sense that they felt the school didn’t respond in an appropriate way, but I think with events like these, there is no ‘right’ way to handle them, and all we can do now is support each other in these tough times.”
Science Teacher Yanni Vourgourakis ’90 said the grade floor provides students the chance to relax in an otherwise stressful academic environment.
“Most students have, predictably, just tuned out,” Vourgourakis said. “Others, however, have just kept on being who they have always been, hard working and motivated. With the pressure off you really see who your students are. Those who are inherently interested keep on working, as do those who are competitive by nature and just want to do the best they can; others let off. It is also a chance for students to see what actually motivates them. Many find they just don’t like how it feels to do poorly even if it does not impact their grade. Others have found that doing well is important for them simply because they want the respect of their instructors.”
Sarah Parmet ’25 said she has noticed teachers being more flexible and supportive in recent months.
“My teachers have been very compassionate and understanding, and most now check in with us regularly,” Parmet said. “Even if they can’t help us with everything that we’re going through, it’s good to know that they care. I think our community [is] somewhat stressed, but having the third quarter floor [on grades] and optional final exams are helping to relieve that. There will always be outliers, and I can’t speak for everyone, but I think that overall, the new changes have been beneficial.”
President Rick Commons said the community must work together to heal after losing two students.
“It’s critical for us as an institution to grow and evolve in ways that respond to the tragedies we’ve experienced,” Commons said. “I think that our community of parents and students recognize that the mental health and emotional health challenges are not localized at Harvard-Westlake [but] are broad challenges for adolescents that seem to be afflicting families across the country right now. We are experiencing enormous and tragic pain that is associated with the larger problem, which doesn’t have us looking away from it, but has us looking right at it and recognizing that we have to evolve as we think about Jonah and Jordan.”
Maggie Sennish • Jun 8, 2023 at 8:09 pm
What an astonishingly ignorant thing for the science teacher to have said and for this paper to have published following this Spring’s HW double student suicides. These comments citing being academically competitive as determining who “a real student” is in the wake of unimaginable tragedy are tone deaf and harmful.
As a mental health professional currently connected with several HW students and staff who are reeling in the aftermath of such loss of life, I hope the school does a better job than this in training teachers forward in what student health is and is not, and the prioritizing of adolescent mental health over academic performance.
John Marasigan • Jul 9, 2023 at 11:35 pm
I, sadly, just found out about these tragic student deaths (including a 3rd recently) in a conversation with fellow alum from H’91. While I understand where your frustrations arise from a mental health point of view, due to the insensitive language used by a staff member, I believe that the idea being communicated is that the school is making a conscious effort in acknowledging the stressors of the grief, shock, and inherent pressures of the academic environment at HW. At the same time, they can’t ignore that there may be students who are emotionally unaffected by these events because they are not connected with the students lost, so their needs have to also be met as they remain focused on their own priorities.
I agree that it is of paramount importance to point out and emphasize adolescent mental health but, at the same time, not ignore the fact that there has always been a high academic standard at HW. Had the school been mandated to return to status quo with no acknowledgement of a need to make adjustments, then there would be a case of blatant negligence and being tone deaf to the tragedies at hand. I think it’s also important that the school have an open dialog about these events so that the community of students, families, and faculty can start breaking down some of the stigma related to dying by suicide. I’m not privy to any of the details about these students’ lives, but I imagine that some combination of: trauma, bullying, shame, abuse, perfectionism, overwhelming pressure, social dynamics, sexual/gender identity, and anxiety of becoming an adult, contributed to mental, emotional, and physical exhaustion leading to spiraling hopelessness and depression.
I am a surviving parent of a suicide loss. My beautiful, beloved 17 year old daughter exited this world in August 2020. I have legitimate knowledge and experience in this regard. At times, I have had to learn patience and grace in hearing other people respond to her death, as well as how the media talks about death by suicide in general. Like many others, I have no formal training in communicating my thoughts, insights, or opinions. Suicide has been mired in such mystery, shame, and isolation that no one really knows how to address it. For my part, I try point out to others where improvements/changes should be made to language, like: “committed suicide” vs “dying by suicide” or “mental illness” vs “struggling with their mental health.” Through my daughter’s charity and our non-profit in her name, we are trying to raise awareness and support to help adolescents, aged 12-20, who fall into a very under-represented treatment group.
I guess what I am politely trying to suggest is that if we see or hear something that needs adjusting in order to reach a better outcome, that we help each other find appropriate language and actions. I don’t want any sugar-coating or masking of the issues — I would certainly take exception to that and point it out as a school failure. Ideally we need to address them as a community in a positive, constructive, compassionate, sensitive, forward-thinking way — there isn’t a one-sized fits-all solution for any of this. Unfortunately, we have quite a task to open the eyes, ears, minds, and hearts of the vast majority, meanwhile so many continue to struggle and may be lost before we can make significant progress. If you have training resources you’d like to share with the school, I can’t speak for them, but i would hope that they’d be open to considering it.
With respect, thank you for hearing me.
Jill • Jul 11, 2023 at 5:53 pm
I’m so sorry for the immense loss of your daughter, John. Thank you for engaging in thoughtful conversations about this painful subject. Through you, your daughter’s voice is being heard. Much love.