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Students wear hearts to honour classmate

Tyson Gosselin, a Grade 10 student, had grown up in Summerland
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JOHN ARENDT A WAY OF PAYING TRIBUTE Summerland Secondary School students and teachers had black hearts drawn on their hands last Thursday as a way to honour Tyson Gosselin, a 15-year-old student who died suddenly on April 3. From left are teacher Chris Sharp, students Erik Chuppa, Ashlin Greenwood, Harmony Clark, Tyler Kennedy and Alex Hulsman and teacher Lorie Zachariuk.

Students and teachers at Summerland Secondary School coloured black hearts on their hands to honour a fallen classmate.

On Thursday, many of the students put the hearts on their hands in memory of 15-year-old Tyson Gosselin, who died suddenly on April 3.

Gosselin, a Grade 10 student, had grown up in Summerland and had played minor hockey in the community.

Friends remembered him as a pleasant, personable classmate.

“He was funny. He had a good sense of humour,” said Erik Chuppa.

Chris Sharp, a teacher at the high school, said Gosselin provided unique and interesting perspectives to the class.

Lorie Zachariuk, who had taught Gosselin at Summerland Middle School and was one of his teachers at the high school, said he was supportive and respectful.

The show of hearts was a student-led initiative which quickly spread through social media.

On Thursday, many of the students were displaying hearts in memory of Gosselin.

“People I didn’t even know had the hearts,” Chuppa said.

“I’m glad we were able to do something to remember him,” added Zachariuk.

Alan Stel, principal at the high school, said the students have had a difficult week, first with the passing of Gosselin and then as they coped with the bus accident in Saskatchewan which claimed the lives of 16 people, many of them hockey players in their teens.

“The news of a premature death is difficult to accept and process,” he said in a letter to parents.



John Arendt

About the Author: John Arendt

John Arendt has worked as a journalist for more than 30 years. He has a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Journalism degree from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute.
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