A new tree at McHenry Community High School serves as a way to work to help those struggling with grief to honor those they’ve lost.
The Remembrance Tree came about after a yearlong grief and loss support program at school. Group members are also planning for a new bench, to be built by construction students.
School Counselor Gary Myers, who started the group with Counselor Carla Flores, said they created it after learning several students suffered loss of a loved one around the same time last year. The support group met one day a month for a year, and now they are continuing to work together to take care of the newly planted tree.
The tree idea came out of discussion among group members of tangible ways to honor loved ones who have passed away. The tree was planted in 2024, with the help of Harms Farm in McHenry. Students make tags with ribbons to hang on the tree to signify someone special who has passed away.
Anyone can request a tag and write a note to honor someone they’ve lost. Student members of the grief and loss group set up tables during lunches to invite students to fill out tags.
Senior Daniel Avila said being a part of the group and this project has helped him with the recent loss of his mother. In December 2024, Avila gathered with senior Rylinn Gottstein and junior Briana Amedia to add more than a dozen tags on the tree.
“Just getting to know that you’re not going through this alone really helps,” Avila said.
Now that the tree has been planted, the group is focusing on caring for the tree and the tags as well as planning other memorials.They’ve talked to Industrial Technology Instructor Dan Rohman about construction students building a bench to be placed near the tree.
“We’re hoping as the tree grows, the program grows,” Myers said.
Read more about it in this article in the student-produced McHenry Messenger.
