Susan Gately
Counselling and faith were what got the principal of Columbine High School through the horrific events and aftermath of September 20, 1999 when 14 students of a high school and a teacher were massacred by two shooters. Frank DeAngelis (62) came to prominence as the principal who stood with the school and rebuilt a broken community after the shooting.
“I was a person of faith prior to Columbine, but after the tragedy my faith was more important than ever,” Frank DeAngelis told The Irish Catholic. “I ran out of the office that day into the line of gun fire. There was a good chance I’d be the first to have died but my life was spared.”
Days after the tragedy, local priest Fr Ken Leone called him to the church where 1,200 young people had gathered. “He whispered in my ear something that allowed me to continue: ‘Frank you were spared on that particular day. Now you need to go and rebuild that community. You will not have to walk that journey alone’.”
Faith
The priest told him the road would be tough. “There’s going to be days when you are saying ‘Why me, why me?’ But God will be with you. I realised you have to live by faith not by sight.”
His other great support was professional counselling which helped him to develop coping skills.
At an event raising funds for Jigsaw – The National Centre for Youth Mental Health on Wednesday (September 14), Mr DeAngelis spoke of the importance of being present and staying involved as parents, even when adolescents tell you ‘you are not needed’.
Meanwhile, the story of the Christian teenager who died in the 1999 Columbine Massacre will be released in the US next month. I’m Not Ashamed is the faith-based biopic about 17-year-old Rachel Joy Scott, the first student killed in the Columbine High School shootings in Colorado whose personal journal revealed her love and commitment to God and a faith in Christ that was strong enough to die for.
