Covenant Tragedy Support
On Monday March 27, the Nashville community experienced a horrible tragedy in The Covenant School shooting. Find advice for talking to your kids and ways to help here.
daystar’s covenant fund
There are many needs in our community, but counseling for traumatized children is one of the most pressing demands right now. Daystar is offering counseling at no charge for Covenant families (as well as directly affected families new to Daystar.)
We serve clients age 7-18 years old. We offer parent consultations for the parents of children under 7 years old, which are also covered by The Covenant Fund. Due to IRS & HIPAA rules, we are unable to accept donations for any one individual child or family.
4/4/23 update
Daystar Counseling is humbled by the outpouring of support to Daystar’s Covenant Fund for families impacted by the tragedy. In our desire to be good stewards of the generosity of our community, effective Friday April 7, 2023 the fund is closed so that we can join you in partnering with other organizations who are caring for families impacted by this tragedy.
Daystar Counseling is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has been caring for families in Middle Tennessee since 1985. We are honored to offer our services and continue to walk closely with the Covenant community on the long road to healing ahead.
Monday March 27, 2023
As you all likely know by now, the Covenant School experienced a tragedy on Monday just 3 miles from Daystar. Some of our counselors and staff were able to go to the family reunification center within an hour to pass out snacks and feelings charts with our pet therapists, sit with children processing while they waited to be reunited with their families, and share simple tips with parents on how to begin talking to their kids. We were humbled to help alongside other amazing counselors in the area. The Covenant administration is a group of leaders we have long loved and respected in our community.
Standing with Covenant
If there’s one thing we saw Monday, it was the incredible love in the Covenant school community. As our staff sat in the reunification center, we saw the love of the teachers for their students, the love of the kids for their classmates & the love of our city for the Covenant community.
Now begins the long, patient work of helping hurting kids and broken families find hope + healing. Our directors spoke to Covenant parents Tuesday and our counselors are offering counseling both at community gatherings and also daily at the Daystar house.
Talking To Your Kids
1. Stay calm.
2. Be the source.
3. Let them lead.
4. Give them space to feel.
5. It's okay to feel with them, not to process with them.
6. Answer questions age-appropriately and honestly.
7. Talk about what they can control.
8. Look for the helpers. Be one.
9. Ask what would help them feel safe at school.
10. Don't feel like you have to have all the answers.
11. Remind them of truth you know.
Ongoing Online Support
Our Director of Child & Adolescent Counseling, Sissy Goff, was on scene at Covenant Monday and was able to offer parents some help & encouragement on beginning to talk with their kids and create a safe place to process. Follow @daystarcounseling on Instagram as we will continue to update links to current help from our staff including interview videos and articles. More interviews scheduled with our staff will be shared as they become available.
Resources
Sissy shared with CNN, "Kids have this amazing innate ability that they ask for the information that they're ready for." Read the rest of her article below "How to talk to your kids about Monday's school shooting, according to a counseling professional" included in the livestream of CNN coverage.
Melissa shared with The New York Times, “Ms. Trevathan, who had come with Pippa, a therapy dog in training, to offer support, characterized Dr. Koonce as ‘very magnetic’ and strong, and recalled her passion for education, sense of humor and love for adventure. ‘She would go the ultimate in protecting her kids,’ Ms. Trevathan said.”
Continued Reading
Some of our counselors have found "A Kids Book About School Shootings" to be helpful this week. The authors offer a free book download. For coping with ongoing anxiety, we also always recommend David Thomas and Sissy Goff's latest books for parents on anxiety as well as their workbooks for children. Available for purchase on Amazon.
