Finding a warm place to have fun is usually what students and faculty want to do during spring break. But Sacramento State’s Stephen Brock flew to Minneapolis, then drove 51?2 hours to the still-frozen world of the Red Lake reservation to train teachers to help their students cope with the area’s recent school shooting.

Brock, 46, an associate professor in the department of special education, rehabilitation and school psychology, joined the four teams sent to help in the aftermath of the March 21 shootings at Red Lake High School.

Sixteen-year-old Jeff Weise killed his grandfather and his grandfather’s girlfriend, one school security guard, one teacher, five students and injured seven others before killing himself, leaving a “devastated” community and school of approximately 300 students.

As a member of the National Emergency Assistance Team, Brock was contacted the day after the shooting and was on site by March 23. Trained as a school psychologist, Brock’s job was to train the teachers, who were also greatly affected by the shooting, to help their students through the grieving process.

“It never stops impressing me how focused teachers are on their kids,” Brock said. “The first thing they asked was, ‘What do we do with our kids?’ It makes me really proud to be a teacher.”

Having teachers trained to handle the students’ problems gives a “caring and familiar face” to their therapy, Brock said.

“We don’t want to start something we can’t finish (with the students),” Brock said. “It’s important that the students have that personal touch that their teachers can give.”

The American Red Cross, the FBI’s Victim Witness Program and the Critical Incident Stress Debriefers were also on site to help not only the students, but also the people who were first to arrive at the school after the shootings, to help those involved with the incident.

The United States Department of Education funded the National Emergency Assistance Team’s involvement. The organization is affiliated with the National Association of School Psychologists.

The teachers were taught to make sure there was ample opportunity for the children to talk about their feelings.

“We don’t want them to sweep anything under the carpet,” Brock said. “They need open and honest understanding.”

Getting long-term mental health services will be difficult because of the isolated location of the reservation, Brock said. Funding for long-term mental health care can be covered by federal funds, if a professional that is willing to come to the reservation can be found.

Richard Lieberman is co-chairman of the National Emergency Assistance Team and the Los Angeles County youth suicide prevention officer. He said the Red Lake intervention was “unique.”

“(The tribe) has an extraordinary amount of challenges,” Lieberman said. “But we respect their privacy. We put a media black-out on the whole team.”

Lieberman said since the team’s initial intervention, the tribal council has taken over any and all collaborations needed to further help its people. The council has said it hopes to use natural, ancient methods to promote healing among its people.

“The first thing needed was to unite the families and open the school back up,” Lieberman said. “They were scheduled to open last Monday, but there was a rumor of a gun on campus, so the opening was delayed. I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of children still haven’t returned to school.”

Annette Reed, director of the Native American studies for Sac State, said in an e-mail that perhaps this “exemplifies what can happen when a people’s homeland is invaded and they have faced government policies that have served to undermine traditional culture.”

“What happened at Red Lake was definitely a tragedy,” Reed said. “I know that many from all over the country offer their prayers and good thoughts to the community.”

Brock said that all the people involved with the shooting will “always remember” the terrible incident, but most will go on to live productive lives.

“I like to quote author and psychologist Lenora Terr: ‘With time, these events become small scars on large lives,'” Brock said.

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Karen Marie Watson can be reached at [email protected]