Capital High School teachers had the daunting task Tuesday morning of telling their students that one of their peers had died.

Shortly after 10 a.m., CHS teachers were asked to read a statement prepared by administrators informing the school’s 1,400 students about the death of classmate Angela Mae Dwyer, who was killed in a car collision on Green Meadow Drive at about 7:15 a.m.

The decision to tell students in small groups instead of in an assembly was intended to help create as calm and peaceful an environment as possible for students to hear the devastating news, said Joe Furshong, the Helena School District student services administrator.

“They need to be told by someone they know and trust,” he said.

A regular class schedule was held throughout the day, and school counselors and outside mental health specialists were on hand.

“The best place for these kids is to be in school — it’s the routine that sees us through,” Furshong said. “The safest and best thing to do is maintain a routine.”

Furshong said schools are an extension of the home, and therefore administrators feel obligated to protect and support students as thoughtfully as possible.

“If parents decided the best place for their child is home, we’ll honor that,” Superintendent Bruce Messinger said.

When a loved one dies, the grief is very personal, and people work through it in different ways, Furshong said. Adolescence is a very emotional time, and students will need to process the news in their own way, he added.

“Over the next week we’ll have counselors and teachers watching for students who may have had their own losses of their own,” he said. “For some kids the response will be extremely deep.”

The teachers and staff have suffered a loss too, Messinger said.

With a mental-health team in place, teachers, staff and students have access to support for the coming weeks.

“Part of our responsibility is to care for staff as well before they have to go out and face the larger group,” Furshong said. “A letter will also be sent out to all parents.”

A memorial of some kind will likely be put in the school foyer to provide a sanctuary of sorts for those grieving.

“It’s a place for healthy expression,” Messinger said.

Since her freshman year, Dwyer had been on the CHS speech and debate team, and this year was the incoming captain. Speech and debate coach JoAnne Sherwood spent close to an hour at the school in a room filled with the mourning team.

“This was a tremendous shock to our team,” Sherwood said. “I went to the school because the students knew her, loved and cared about her. As a team we are close knit.”

CHS teacher Kelley Morand said when she told her yearbook class, they just cried together.

Morand, who suffered the loss of her son a year ago, said she wants to be there for her students as they were for her.

“I told them to follow their instinct and not be afraid to let the family know and show up,” she said.

Morand said about one-third of her class was personally affected by the news, so she took some time for those students to say something about Angela.

“One girl said it wasn’t fair because she (Angela) could have accomplished so much,” Morand said. “It’s important to acknowledge grief, and I spoke to them from my own experience.”

Offering an ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on and a room filled with snacks, water and Kleenex, Morand said her door is open for students wanting to talk.

Reporter Alana Listoe: 447-4081 or Alana.listoe@helenair.com