BANGOR, Maine — John Bapst Memorial High School students spent Monday coping with intense emotions surrounding a popular teacher’s apparent suicide after a police investigation into allegations he solicited nude photos of a girl at the school.
School officials called an assembly first thing Monday morning, two days after social sciences teacher Jeremiah Gorman, 35, was found dead in a Bangor motel room. Police had launched a “serious criminal investigation” into Gorman’s activities, according to the school. A search warrant affidavit indicated a 16-year-old student at John Bapst sent nude photos online to Gorman at his request, not knowing his identity.
“We have a hard job to do together today and in the days to come,” Head of School Mel MacKay told students during the assembly, sharing his statement later with the Bangor Daily News. “One of the ways we’ll get through this very difficult time is by counting on each other.”
The private high school brought in counselors from Community Health and Counseling Services and a therapy dog to work with students in need of grief counseling. The school’s guidance counselors and nurse also were available.
“The allegations came as an enormous surprise,” Jane Branch, who graduated from John Bapst in 2014 and is now a student at the College of the Holy Cross, said in an email Monday. “I would have never expected such a good and dedicated man to be accused of such actions.”
Branch served four years on the school’s student senate, including her senior year as president. Gorman was faculty adviser to the senate, and he worked closely with Branch and other students in the group.
She said Gorman “dedicated endless amounts of time” to the school, from helping to organize events to participating in community service projects.
“As a student, everyone experiences at one point or another a teacher that has lost their passion for teaching,” Branch said. “That was not Mr. Gorman. He loved teaching; he would go above and beyond to help a student succeed.”
“This is obviously difficult for all involved,” Gorman’s family said in a statement issued Monday through a friend. “The family is grieving and requests space and privacy to do so.”
Students on Monday were allowed to excuse themselves from a class or study hall to gather in an established counseling area, where they could talk through their emotions, MacKay said. The head of school said counseling will continue to be available this week and that “there’s no planned end date.”
Linda Boyle, coordinator of Pathfinder, a group under Eastern Maine Homecare that helps children and teens deal with grief and trauma, said Monday that John Bapst officials have taken the right steps toward helping students heal.
She said students need to be able to go to classes and need flexibility to talk with one another or an adult. Boyle credited the school for starting Monday off with an assembly, adding that it’s vital the school share as much information as it’s allowed regarding the investigation so students aren’t left speculating.
“The biggest support these kids have is each other,” Boyle said.
MacKay said the students, many of whom had classes or activities with Gorman, were working through grief, anger, confusion and anxiety in the wake of the weekend’s events.
“Mixed emotions may lead us to want to talk or be silent, to seek help from a counselor, to turn to religious beliefs,” MacKay told the students assembled Monday morning. “You may feel angry. … All of the feelings that come out at a time like this are real, so pay attention to them.”
MacKay said Gorman’s five classes and other responsibilities at the school have been taken over by other faculty members.
During the assembly, MacKay advised students that the police investigation was ongoing, and he said anyone with information relevant to the case — including potential victims — should come forward. He said he had very few details regarding the case.
“Right now, many of you are feeling a lot of private pain,” MacKay told his students. “Your pain is widely shared. One of the ways we’ll get through this very difficult time is by counting on each other.”
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter at @nmccrea213.