Mount Vernon high school parents gather after student suicide

Two days after a ninth-grader attending Mount Vernon Community High School took his own life, parents and others in the community met at the middle school to talk about it.

School leaders confirmed the Tuesday night suicide of the ninth-grade student.  The incident marks the third time a student from the high school has taken his own life over the past seven months.

All three of the students were males.

"When it comes out of nowhere, it just rocks everybody," said  superintendent Dr. Pam Ewell.

To help students deal with this latest suicide, the Grant Wood AEA has sent a crisis team to Mount Vernon.  Team leaders say they anticipate staying here throughout the week, at the very least.

"It's a challenge," said Katy Lee, who is heading a GWAEA crisis team, when asked about connecting with teens.  "You can't force somebody to open up.  You can provide information about what might be helpful ways for them to cope.  And so we can provide education that way."

Ewell said parents in the district already do a strong job of keeping students "involved and engaged."

"Our community already does that," said Ewell on Thursday night during the two-hour meetings.  "That's why this is even more heartbreaking than you could ever imagine because our children are involved and they are engaged."

Dozens of parents, and others, filled the middle school auditorium before breaking off into small groups with counselors and mental health experts.

On this Thursday night, it was the adults who used the school grounds to learn more, whether as parents or school leaders.

"Suicide, as awful and heartbreaking as it is, can't be predicted nor can it be explained," said Ewell.  "That makes it so complicated because, in education, we're always looking for solutions."