Lonnie Rowell

Helping to Heal After School Shootings - Professor Brings Community Together

by Michael R. Haskins (Courtesy of Voices)

It felt like a one-two punch to the gut. Like many people, Professor Lonnie Rowell was shocked by two shootings at San Diego high schools that occurred less than three weeks apart in March. The shootings at Santana High School and Granite Hills High School, in which two students were killed and 18 more injured, hit Rowell especially hard.

A professor in the School of Education's counseling program, he'd grown up and attended high school in the same district where the shootings took place. And one of his former USD students, the newest counselor at Granite Hills, had been in the line of fire. After tossing and turning through several sleepless nights, Rowell, who at the time was president of the California School Counselors Association, called the superintendent of the school district and offered to help. "I finally thought, how can I not do this, no matter what it takes," says Rowell, who's been at USD for seven years and coordinates the school counselor training program. "I just went in and said, 'I'm here to help.'"

After meeting with district superintendent Granger Ward, Rowell came away with a mission to design and carry out a series of community forums among staff, students and parents. The meetings were designed to strengthen community-school ties and discuss plans for safe schools, violence prevention and conflict resolution. "We wanted to hear all the voices in the community," says Ward, "and Lonnie came to us with a process that fit perfectly. I was pleasantly surprised and gratified when he offered to help."

With an all-volunteer group of students and retired counselors, Rowell quickly put together the Strengthening School Community project, a series of 17 focus groups in which participants discussed issues of violence, bullying, intolerance and communication, and talked about how each person and group could help. "They were very honest and very vocal about what needed to change," says Kelly Sestero, a graduate student who assisted with the forums. "In most cases, people felt better just talking with others about what had happened." The last and most difficult forum was at Santana High, where two students had been killed. "It was emotionally wrenching to be in the presence of people who were hurting so bad," Rowell says. "It's hard for people to rally together after a tragedy, but we tried to point them away from blame and toward building a healthy community."

With the forums complete, Rowell will compile a report and turn it over to Ward. The superintendent plans to use the results as a foundation for a new Lessons Commission, which is working on violence prevention plans. The professor and his students also will talk about the project this fall at the annual "State of School Counseling" forum, a research project Rowell created for his school counseling class that draws educators from across the county. Rowell hopes the project ultimately will be replicated in other school districts to prevent future tragedies. "One problem is that California ranks last in the nation in funding for student support services," he says, "but there are a thousand other complex aspects that lead to the breakdown of community. I don't have all the answers, but bringing schools and the larger community together is a way to start."