In Annunciation's creative arts classroom, 2 candles stay lit as a daily tribute

Annunciation Creative Arts Director Kristin Stang says August brings everything back to the surface.

"You can't help but be transported back to that day and to those moments," Stang said. "I would say it's still very raw one year later. And while we're finding that healing and those moments of joy, holding in our hearts that we all walked through something that no one should ever have to. So it's a hard mark. It's a very difficult thing to look back on to that one year ago."

A mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church on Aug. 27, 2025, killed two students and injured more than a dozen others. Nearly a year later, healing remains ongoing — and is often interrupted by everyday moments that suddenly become triggering.

"Just walking through the grieving process and those hard moments of again, missing two incredible children and the little things that I think take us back to that moment," Stang said. "I know for, I mean, even the Fourth of July, the sound of fireworks for a number of people was concerning, anything like that."

She added that every student is moving through that process at their own pace.

"And so we've seen the healing steps. It's a process," Stang said. "And the kids are all on their own individual place with that process. It's not going to be an immediate healing. There's nothing about it that will be immediate, but we've seen baby steps, and they are incredibly strong and they can do hard things — and they're doing those hard things."

While teachers work to create a safe space for students, Stang says the Annunciation faculty have leaned on one another through the hardest days — no one walking alone.

"I think if one of us was walking it completely alone, it would be incredibly challenging," she said. "And the fact that we have each other to lean on, it's pivotal. And when I say I work with some of the best people, I work with some of the best individuals. They're extraordinary and extraordinary at what they do. And so if there's ever a moment when one of us feels like we are stuck in the mud, which is what grieving can feel like, you're lifting that foot out of the mud and you're trying to find your way. There's always someone who kind of looks back at you and says, hey, you know, with a look, I get it, I'm there. This is hard."

Asked what has helped the community find its way back to a sense of normalcy, Stang said there may be no returning to what once was.

"I don't know if there is normalcy that we can return to," she said. "We have a new normal. This is part of our story, part of who we will be and who we are. But I think having that love and support from the community is what gives us any sense of security and sense of love, and maybe a step toward normalcy."

That new normal takes shape in quiet, deliberate ways. In Stang's classroom, two candles stay permanently lit — a tribute to keep the memory of 10-year-old Harper Moyski and 8-year-old Fletcher Merkel present.

"If I even remotely miss a moment, the kids are the first to say, 'We have to light Fletcher's candle. We have to light Harper's candle,'" Stang said. "It's huge in the creative arts classroom, and we maintain the two candles that were part of the Christmas program because they have symbols of what we remember of Fletcher and Harper. I think, obviously for myself, in that space it's huge. They were and are incredible human beings, and we want to have that."

As a new school year begins and the community continues to honor Fletcher and Harper, Stang says the lesson going forward is simple, yet powerful.

"Keep taking care of each other," she said. "Show up for each other, and love harder than you've ever loved."