Lawndale community church a 'safe haven' for grief stricken teens

It was considered a safe haven, free of television crews, reporters and clicking cameras.

Instead of heading back to school Friday, stunned North Lawndale College Prep students returning from a trip where three classmates drowned assembled at Lawndale Community Church to meet with counselors and wait for their parents.

"We wanted to provide them a place where they wouldn't be bothered by the media," Associate Pastor Joseph Atkins said.

The students, he said, "were just as kids are. Kind of withdrawn, and glad to see their parents."

The grief counseling sessions lasted several hours.

"We just let them go, basically," Atkins said. "We didn't want to make it a controlled environment."

The students who did not come home from the trip - Adrian Jones, 16, Melvin Choice, 17, and Jimmie Avant, 18 - were described as high achievers with big plans after high school.

"Adrian was very smart and was one of (his school's) top students," said Jones' older sister, Barbara Oliver. "He aspired to be a corporate lawyer or a marine biologist. He had the brains to succeed at it, too."

Oliver said her brother, who celebrated his 16th birthday just last month, was very close with his family and gave selflessly of his time whenever any of them needed his help.

"This tragedy is a huge loss for us all," she said. "We loved him very much."

Jones and the 30 other students on the retreat were there through their participation in Minority Men Exceeding the Norm. The school group promotes positive male role models, high academic achievement and community leadership.

At North Lawndale. some students left early after learning of the tragedy while others met with counselors from a crisis intervention team, said Chicago Public Schools spokeswoman Ana Vargas.

The 670-student charter school features two campuses in the West Side neighborhood.

A message on the school's Web site states that classes will be canceled Monday, but grief counselors will be available for students.

"Today we suffered a terrible loss at North Lawndale College Prep," the message from school administrators states. "The news reports cannot capture the depth of our tragedy and sadness."

Parents of students on the retreat were "struggling and frustrated," Atkins said.

"You know they knew the kids who had lost their lives," he said. "And they knew that these kids were very close. There was a lot of hurt."