Changes to memorials causes stir in 'Gansett

Changes to memorials causes stir in 'Gansett 
Administration says removal of student names part of initiative to curb teen suicide
Eryn Dion
News Staff Writer

  TEMPLETON — Last week, Jessica Beaudoin’s mother took a trip through the halls of Narragansett Regional High School to help a family member enroll their child in the district’s School Choice program.

While in the building, she also wanted to take a detour and revisit the mural dedicated to her son Jared McPherson, whose life was tragically cut short during his sophomore year when he suffered an embolism as a result of a childhood illness.

For all intents and purposes the mural appeared untouched – the portly bear Baloo from “The Jungle Book” still lounging against a palm tree with a yellow bookbag, the famous quote from Disney’s adaptation still hanging in the air.

But then Ms. Beaudoin’s mother discovered something was missing.

An off-white splotch was visible where her son’s name had once lovingly been painted, leaving an empty space directly beneath the quote “Whenever great deeds are remembered in this jungle, one name will stand above all others: our friend …”

Jared’s name was not the only one removed, as several other murals around the school dedicated to students who passed away had also recently been touched up in the same way.


Ms. Beaudoin said she was told by the administration that the decision to remove the names came from a recommendation made by an outside consulting firm as part of an initiative to combat teen suicide and help students deal with traumatic experiences and grief.

The action, she argued, does more harm than good, alienating the families who have lost loved ones and leaving students feeling unsupported.

“They made a decision to put their name on the wall and memorialize that person,” Ms. Beaudoin said. “It’s like desecrating a grave.”

The removal, Ms. Beaudoin explained, was carried out by art students at the behest of the administration. The Narragansett graduate said several of those students reached out to her through Facebook, saying they felt uncomfortable with the administration’s request but that their complaints fell on deaf ears.

“They had art students come and do it,” said Ms. Beaudoin. “Students who actually knew these kids.”

The administration also failed to inform families of the removal, Ms. Beaudoin said, leaving many to discover themselves or hear secondhand from other sources.

“Why wasn’t my family notified?” Ms. Beaudoin asked. “Why weren’t any of the other families notified?”

According to Superintendent Ruth Miller, the Narragansett Regional School District has been working with the Needham-based Riverside Trauma Center for several years, developing a district-wide plan to combat the increasing number of teen suicides across the country and also adopt a healthier approach to grief and trauma in students.

“When I took the superintendent position, my priority was to keep all kids safe,” Ms. Miller said.

As part of the ongoing plan, Ms. Miller said the center helped train teachers and faculty to spot and work through signs of grief and depression in students on a one-to-one basis, as well as establish the Peer Pals program and other support groups for students. The removal of deceased students’ names, Ms. Miller said, came at the advice of the trauma center.

“Their recommendation was that it wasn’t necessarily in the best interest of the students to have the names up,” she stated.

Ultimately, the high school principal and faculty decided to follow through with the group’s suggestion and began painting over the names on various murals throughout the school. It was not the easiest course of action, Ms. Miller said, but she felt that, in the end, it was best for the school.

“My job is to support the high school staff,” she said. “It was a difficult decision. It wasn’t done in haste and it certainly wasn’t done to not recognize these students.”

Other parents; however, are not convinced.

“It’s a disgrace,” said Judy Smart, whose daughter Jaime was killed in a car accident in 2001. “This is not right.”

Jaime, Ms. Smart said, was captain of the field hockey team and was involved in numerous school activities, such as the DARE and art programs. The school still issues athletic awards and scholarships for art students in her name and outside the art room stands a memorial mural in her honor. While the mural still carries Jaime’s name, Ms. Smart was told it, like the others, was slated to be removed, calling into question just where the line was to be drawn.

“Yes it was 14 years ago, but 14 years was not the rest of her life,” Ms. Smart stated. “She was a part of that school. They made her a part of that school. Memorials are forever.”

Ms. Smart doesn’t buy the center’s reason for removing the students’ names, as none of the individuals painted over committed suicide. Even if they had, she argued, they still deserved to be recognized and remembered by their peers. While her daughter’s name still remains, she said she stands in solidarity with Ms. Beaudoin and other families dealing with the wounds reopened by the administration’s actions.

“Unexpected death is part of real life,” she said. “Children need to be able to grieve and remember their friends, not just brush them under the carpet like nothing ever happened.”

Superintendent Miller said she sympathized with the families and regretted putting them in such a difficult position.

“The parents aren’t wrong,” she said. “They are absolutely right about the way they are feeling.”

Looking back, Ms. Miller commented that she wished the administration handled the situation differently and that this would serve as a learning experience for the whole district. If given the opportunity to go through the events again, the superintendent added she would have reached out to families personally and informed them of the school’s intentions instead of leaving them to find out about the removal of names on their own.

“For that I’m deeply, deeply sorry,” Ms. Miller said.

The murals themselves will not be covered up and likely will remain preserved on the walls for years to come.

Ms. Beaudoin said she will be meeting with Ms. Miller and the administration later this week to discuss the matter. She also hopes to help create a policy where students who pass away while still in school are honored at what would be their graduation and given space in their yearbook – a policy that could have helped her parents grieve when their son’s name was not mentioned or acknowledged during his graduation two years ago.

“I don’t want this to happen to anyone else,” she stated.