School officials at the institutions where two students, killed in a weekend incident, attended say they are working with other students and teachers who are in need of support in the wake of the tragic event.
In the early morning hours of February 6, Jordan Caldwell, Evan Caldwell, and six other teenagers attempted to slide the bobsled track at Canada Olympic Park on personal sleds, outside of the park's operating hours, when the group collided with a gate dividing the luge and bobsled sections of the track.
Jordan and Evan were pronounced dead at the scene. The surviving members of the group were transported to hospital by ambulance. Their conditions range from critical, life threatening to stable with minor injuries.
On Monday morning, Joe Frank, the superintendent of Westmount Charter School, and CBE Area Director Calvin Davies addressed the media on Monday morning, saying that they have a number of strategies in place to ensure those touched by the event obtain the support they need.
Frank says there are a number of supports in place at Westmount and meetings have been held with staff on Sunday evening and Monday morning to explain the strategies put in place.
"We have a number of supports in place at our school. We met with our staff last evening to give them a heads up about what's happening, to do some grieving, and do a bit of a debriefing about the events that happened over the weekend and give them some time to hear about the process as they meet with students this morning," Frank said.
He says that the teachers have been briefed again on Monday morning and were given some scripts to help them with students.
Calvin Davies says they've been working closely with administration at Westmount Charter in the wake of the incident. "Similar activities have been taking place this morning at a variety of locations across various high schools, in particular at Ernest Manning High School."
"I think it's important when such a devastating tragedy such as this occurs for us to realize that there's a whole range of responses that we've put into place at our schools both here at Westmount and at Ernest Manning. We have a very flexible support system so we can respond to the range of emotions that take place."
Frank says that students have already met in their home rooms but says it is important for students in the grieving process to get back into a regular routine.
Davies says they are also providing time for students and staff to meet in small groups to help cope with the loss and provide individualized opportunities for counselling.
Both agree that the issue has nothing to do with jurisdiction, but rather has a lot more to do with supporting both groups of students involved.
"It's about working collaboratively with students and their families," Frank said.
Frank says that the situation is very much a learning experience for all students. "These are teenagers who are making decisions about the activities they want to become involved in. Sometimes it would be a bad decision that would result in a tragic ending. I think we need to have our students as much as anybody think about."
"It's not about judging the decisions this group of students made."
Both Evan and Jordan Caldwell started at Westmount Charter School in Grade 5. Jordan remained at Westmount throughout his educational career while Evan transferred to Ernest Manning for Grade 11 and 12 because of that school's engineering program.
"Jordan was a very active, very popular student," Frank said. "The little guys called him their 'rockstar'."
Evan had recently been accepted at Queen's University in their Engineering Program for a full scholarship.
The pastor of the church where the family of twin boys who were killed in a crash at Calgary's Canada Olympic Park belonged spoke out on Sunday, sharing how their community is dealing with the tragic situation.
Pastor Quinn Davis said that there are a number of people in the community who are struggling to come to terms with the deaths of Evan and Jordan Caldwell.
He says that the whole network has been touched by the event and they are working to help the Caldwell family and the families of the six other injured teens.
Davis says the boys were very active in the church and in the sports community and many people have been quick to judge the actions of the group involved.
But he says they ultimately made a bad decision and paid the ultimate price as a result.
"These are really good guys, these are great young men. They made a bad decision. It's that one choice that led to this inevitable outcome and we all need to be careful that we are always just one choice away from something that could result in a tragedy such as this," Davis said on Sunday.
On Saturday evening, Jason, Shauna and Katie Caldwell issued the following statement:
We were reminded today that life is but a vapor. Life is precious, life is fragile, and we must redeem the time we’re given.
Our boys Jordan & Evan were bright lights to all who knew them. We are grieving their loss but confident in their new home of heaven. Our brief 17 years with them were a gift: filled with much love, laughter, and fond memories.
They leave a huge void and will be sorely missed.
A funeral service for the boys is expected to occur sometime later this week.
Many of the other victims of the incident are still in hospital, but two in particular were greviously injured in the crash.
Friends say that Caleb Hettinga had to undergo hours of reconstructive surgery to repair some of his facial injuries. There are also reports that he may have lost sight in one of his eyes.
Mark Lyons also suffered a significant amount of facial injuries and will require plastic surgery to repair.
David Carr and Danny Spalding recieved just minor injuries as a result.
The others involved received varying degrees of injuries from soft tissue wounds to broken bones.
The Calgary Police Service and WinSport continue to investigate the incident and how the group gained access to the sliding track.
A funeral service will be held for the Evan and Jordan Caldwell at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 11, at the Centre Street Church located at 3900 2 Street N.E.
