Monday, January 24 was a sad day for the students at Cleveland Elementary. Their beloved Principal, Ed Clark passed away unexpectedly the evening before. This past Friday, they took another step forward in grieving their loss.
The students, Mr. Clark’s family (wife: Tracy, and children: Morgan, Brian, Jeffery, Claire, and James, minus son Adam who is serving an LDS mission), and elementary faculty and staff took advantage of the sunny spring day to send balloons skyward with messages to Clark attached.
“Each student wrote a little note to Mr. Clark either thanking him or telling him how much they miss him,” said School Secretary Theresa Jensen.
Jensen explained that after Clark’s death, the school provided grief counseling to students who were struggling, and many of the students attended the funeral. The balloon release on friday was another event the faculty hoped would help the students.
The thought behind it was for Mr. Clark’s family toВ come and see the students, who Mr. Clark had worked with, let the balloons go up to reach Mr. Clark and let him know howВ much we all loved him,” she said.
In speaking with the faculty afterward, Jensen related that they felt the goal was achieved. “The teachers said it was very therapeutic for their students to be able to write a message to him and let it go,” she said. “Also to see Mr. Clark’s family and to hear Tracy say how grateful Mr. Clark was for each one of them and how much he loved coming to Cleveland Elementary.”