Kids at 3 schools grieve classmates killed on break

Third-grader Seo Won Choi loved broccoli — sometimes with Doritos. He had a nose-shaped pencil sharpener.

For the Halloween parade, he boldly sported his sister's heels as "America's Next Top Model."

Seo Won was killed March 15 when a driver going the wrong way on the Kansas Turnpike struck his family's van as they were headed for a spring break trip. His mother, Kyoung Yeon Chae, and 17-year-old sister, Yuna Choi, also died. The sister's twin, Hana Choi, remains in the hospital.

"Why did this have to happen to him? Why now?" asked Delainie Shirley who sat next to Seo Won in class at Price-Harris Communications Magnet Elementary School.

To help students cope with their grief, Price-Harris parents organized the release of 100 white balloons on Monday, the first day students were back from spring break.

With encouragement from teachers and counselors, third-graders reminisced about their time with the class joker. They then wrote notes to Seo Won and tied them to the balloons.

Price-Harris wasn't the only grieving school after a spring break in which three Wichita students died.

At East High School, counselors were on hand for students and staff to talk about the death of Seo Won's sister, Yuna Choi.

And at Allison Traditional Magnet Middle School, students wrote sympathy cards to the family of Regan Wheeler, 13, who died Friday from injuries suffered in a golf cart accident.

Liz McGinness, who coordinates the district's mental health crisis team, said she can't remember having to provide support to three schools at one time. She asked 21 counselors to help the schools cope on Monday.

"We let kids know it's OK to talk about this kind of pain," McGinness said. "It's OK to cry. It's a learning opportunity."

They try to provide activities for students to articulate the pain, such as creating letters and cards for the student's family. Counselors also meet with staff before school to talk about what to expect in a classroom of grieving students.

It was important to explain to Allison students on Monday that the three other students with Regan at the time of the golf cart crash in Butler County weren't responsible for her death, McGinness said. None of them were in class Monday.

"The Wheelers made clear no one was to blame for the accident," McGinness said.

She said Allison students are invited to attend a celebration of life ceremony for Regan on Thursday that's hosted by her parents, Konnie and Rick Wheeler, who is the athletic director and football coach at Heights High School.

Funeral services were held Friday for Seo Won, his sister and mother.

His father, Eunseo Choi, came to the Price-Harris balloon release Monday to keep the memory of his son alive. He held a framed school photo of his son, which will be put on display as a permanent memorial at the school.

"I really want you to be here with us because we're having fun," classmate Bailey Barry said she wrote in the note she sent to Seo Won on a balloon.

She said she felt happy she could tell him how much he's missed.

Excitement filled the air before the crowd of third-graders released their white balloons to the sky, spiraling upward in the wind.

"Look, Seo Won caught it!" a student said to classmates.

This story was originally published March 23, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Kids at 3 schools grieve classmates killed on break."