The parents of slain Arapahoe High student Claire Davis took part in a “healing ceremony” with students at the school Friday, urging them to be compassionate and forgiving as they continue forward.
“We’d like to challenge you this morning that you start now, this very moment, being the person you want to be for the rest of your life,” said Michael Davis, Claire’s father. “What you think now, and who you are now, will ultimately shape who you become in the future — what kind of adult you will be — what kind of parents you will be.”
Michael and Desiree Davis were on campus as part of an all-student and faculty assembly in the school’s gym involving eight to 10 members of the Arapaho Nation, which has a longstanding relationship with the school, whose mascot is the Warriors.
Monday will be the one-month anniversary of the Dec. 13 shooting at the school where Claire Davis was killed. Student Karl Pierson entered the school with a shotgun, machete and Molotov cocktails looking for his debate coach who he had a disagreement with. Pierson shot Davis before killing himself.
Arapahoe High, which took its name from the Arapaho Nation, invited members from the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming to participate in the healing. Burning cedar bundles to generate smoke, members wafted the smoke with a feather over the crowd symbolizing their unity, bond and strength as a tribe and school, reiterating that they are Warrior strong.
Michael Davis challenged the students to look within themselves to find their inner strength now and in the future.
“Always remember that you’ll never be called upon to do more than you can do in this life. You are always enough,” he said.
Kate Gibbons: 303-954-1016, kgibbons@denverpost.com
