Online sites offer new ways to grieve for Glenbard N. teacher
Glenbard North High School's football game last week wasn't just about touchdowns.
It was about memories. And farewells.
With most of the crowd on its feet during the halftime show, some holding signs reading, "We love Mr. Schraft," the school's marching band played a 10-minute tribute to band director Bill Schraft, 50, who died Oct. 31.
Schraft's students first came together to support their teacher just a few days after his Oct. 27 stroke, launching a Facebook prayer circle called "Mr. Schraft's Support."
Within five days, the group had more than 500 members. Now, a week after the Lombard man's death, the group has more than 750 members.
They have posted 160 messages discussing the beloved teacher's death and his impact on students' lives.
Schraft's son Mike, 22, said he was overwhelmed with the support and prayers he received through Facebook and e-mail.
"The flood of Facebook messages, MySpace messages and text messages has been incredible," Mike Schraft said the day before his father's death.
"I'm finally seeing the world through the way my dad did and seeing what was dear to him. I thought I knew him before," he said, "but now I'm actually seeing what it was like to be him. I'm understanding how (his students) played a significant role in his life. It is comforting."
Glenbard North biology teacher Mike Neenan said he was impressed with Facebook's power to bring students together in a time of grief.
"I think Facebook, with its power to almost instantaneously link people certainly facilitates that connectedness among those grieving," Neenan said.
Many of the Facebook group's posts memorialize Schraft's 28-year career at Glenbard North and his effect on students he taught.
A former student on the group's message board commented on the presence of drums at Schraft's funeral last weekend in Villa Park. The band director was known for his love of percussion.
"It was good to go to (the funeral), and I hope a lot of you guys got to go as well," the post read. "As for the music, it sounded really nice. Good articulation, intonation, etc. I like the fact that they had a drummer there."
Neenan said sites like Facebook can change the way people grieve and also how they memorialize those who have died.
"(This is) similar to how when John Lennon died people needed to leave mementos and notes at Strawberry Fields in New York City," Neenan said. "For those lesser-knowns like Mr. Schraft who was still loved by his students, Facebook makes it very easy for members to quickly construct their own Strawberry Fields."