(WXYZ) — For four days, Union City High School has been the heart of this community's recovery effort, after the tornadoes that killed four people and injured a dozen others. But starting this week, its focus shifts from resource center to classroom. And the question on every parent's mind tonight — how do you help a child make sense of something like this?
Watch Faraz's report in the video player below
Duke, who is not even a year old, is Union City Community Schools' newest therapy dog.
"Sometimes it's easier to communicate with an animal than talk to the person in the room," said school counselor Ashley Sachler.
Sachler said that, ironically, the lab was brought in a week ago, and he will be put to work when nearly 300 students and staff return after this past Friday’s tragedy.
"We're starting out with just supporting staff," Sachler said. "Supporting bus drivers, kitchen staff, and all of our employees. And then we'll likely go on and do some debriefing sessions with all of our students and what their needs are."
Per the National Weather Service, an EF-3 tornado touched down in Union City, with wind speeds of up to 150 miles per hour.
"The trailers were destroyed, debris in pond," said Allison Gautsche.
Related Story: Recovery begins after dealy tornadoes
"There were people just coming out of their homes in shock, obviously, of what had just happened," said Jennifer Gautsche.
Within hours of Friday's tornado, Jennifer and her 17-year-old daughter Allison were on Tuttle Road — one of the hardest hit stretches in Union City.
"At one point, they're just working to cut a tree up the road, and I see this family just looking at their destroyed home. I just hugged one of the ladies," Allison said.
"Sometimes just the best thing to do is to be there. You don't have to say anything, but just to show that they're not alone," Jennifer said.
But this community carries more than one storm's worth of grief.
"Two years ago, the community also experienced another tornado in Sherwood. As a counselor, what are you going to be looking out for?" I asked Sachler.
"I would imagine we're going to have a lot of students that are coming in with some of that previous trauma from the Sherwood tornadoes, and it's probably triggering for a lot of them," Sachler replied.
Related Story: Union City High School becomes hub of hope after deadly tornadoes
"How are you going to remember this tragedy?" I asked Allison and Jennifer.
"It's... the biggest destructive hit that I've seen. I'm going to remember what I saw and remember how people wanted to be helpful, how God is helping us through this," Allison replied.
"I hope that we remember, Mother Nature is an incredible force when she wants to be, but community is stronger," Jennifer said.
Counseling services at the high school are available to any community member impacted by this past Friday’s tragedy. Union City High School's resource center also remains open — for as long as this community needs it.
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