HIS Nation - A Sad Week, Remembering Kiarra
Holbrook Indian School Community Mourns Tragic Loss While on the Road to Recovery
Kiarra Alma Gordon | July 26, 2005 - August 28, 2022
Every September issue of our monthly newsletter is dedicated to featuring photos of our students registered for the school year. We enjoy seeing their lovely smiles arrive on campus after the summer break, and we extend an invitation to our supporters to become acquainted with these new and familiar faces. As the September 2022 issue, Faces of the NewYear, hits mailboxes, thousands across the nation are simultaneously hit with the heavy reality that one of those smiling faces has passed away, and many others are hurting.
Unimaginable News
Trigger Warning: The video report below contains images of the damaged bus and 911 dispatcher calls.
On August 28, 2022, 17-year-old HIS student Kiarra Alma Gordon was killed and six others injured during an accident involving a bus from the Holbrook Indian School (HIS) in Arizona. According to the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the bus slowed down in traffic near a rollover crash when it was struck from behind by a semi-truck. The bus was transporting a group of staff and students on a field trip to Window Rock, Arizona.
Kiarra was in the 11th grade and was loved and admired by her family and her classmates. The entire campus community regarded her with affection.
“I am finding it difficult to find the right words to express our grief on the loss of our dear
student Kiarra,” said Pedro Ojeda, principal of Holbrook Indian School. “She brightened our world. I continue to pray for our students who were injured and for all the students and staff who were on the bus.”
Three other students were transported to Little Colorado Medical Center and were released after medical evaluation. Another three were flown to Flagstaff Medical Center. Two students have been released, and one remains in stable condition.
The Beginning of Healing
The students that remained on campus gathered with staff at our school gate on Monday following the accident to see flowers and balloons left by our Holbrook community neighbors.
Former HIS student and pastor, Charlie Whitehorse, anoints the girls’ and boys’ dorms among other places on campus at the suggestion of Native representatives of the board, being mindful of Navajo beliefs regarding the deceased.
Balloons and flowers left at our school gate.
Several board members were on campus to share words of comfort and encouragement with our students and staff.
Trauma therapy counselors and chaplains are currently assisting students and staff at Holbrook Indian School. On the day of the accident, the school held a prayer service involving all students, staff, and the board of directors who were present that evening.
The following day, students, staff, and board members came together to anoint several places on campus, including the girl's and boys’ dorms. This was suggested by Native representatives of the board, being mindful of Navajo beliefs regarding the deceased.
“Students, you can go home and tell your parents you have nothing to fear,” said former HIS student and pastor Charlie Whitehorse. “You can let them know your school has been anointed, and you have nothing to fear. Jesus will protect you.”
Other members from the board spoke words of encouragement and hope to the students, while members of the surrounding Holbrook community gave their own silent yet heartfelt condolences in the form of flowers and balloons left at the gate of the school.
A Sad Home Leave
Although we are a boarding school, our students leave to go home any weekend they want to. Once a quarter, students have scheduled extended weekend breaks called home leaves. The timing of this terrible accident just happened to occur the weekend before our first home leave of the school year.
Many of our students understandably went home early. The students who were impacted the most went home that same day or a few days after the accident, many of whom were on the bus and others being very close friends of Kiarra.
For the students that remained on campus, we thought it was best to maintain our schedule as best as possible to help them with a sense of structure.
It was also during this time that our on-site chaplain and licensed clinical counselors, in collaboration with external trauma therapy counselors, were able to help students and staff begin to process the traumatic loss and injuries to their friends and loved ones.
Staff members were able to pool together and support students that remained on campus through Faculty Families.
Our director of horsemanship created a space of healing with horses.
It was also around this time that students were looking forward to their first Faculty Family get-together. This is a time, once every three to four weeks, when our students get to experience quality time with their teachers and staff outside of the classroom and in their homes, sharing a meal together. This time around, several faculty families pooled together due to students remaining on campus.
Our director of horsemanship, Allison Newhart, also created a space of healing with horses for students still on campus. We are grateful for our staff who found the courage to help one another and our students in this extremely difficult and unfamiliar time.
On the Thursday following the accident, those remaining students left for home leave. Students are scheduled to return to campus the following Monday.
“I am finding it difficult to find the right words to express our grief on the loss of our dear student Kiarra.
She brightened our world. I continue to pray for our students who were injured and for all the students and staff who were on the bus.
”
Thoughts on the School Life of Kiarra
Kiarra was a bright young lady who was academically determined and physically talented. She always wanted to improve in the classroom and on the court.
If you were to meet her for the first time, you might say she was quiet and reserved, but as you got to know her, you would find out she had a refreshing sense of humor and a budding love and hobby for photography.
Kiarra # 26 on the Lady Eagles volleyball team.
Thoughts From Mr. Tabo
I asked Kiarra’s faculty family teacher, PE teacher, and volleyball coach, Arbee Tabo, to share some of his thoughts about Kiarra.
“The first time Kiarra was in our faculty family, she was pretty quiet, but when we started talking to her and joking around the kitchen table, you could tell she was amused. She would smile a lot.”
“I have three boys of my own, and my oldest likes to pick on the faculty family girls because they are much older than him. They are in junior high and high school, and he’s in elementary. I remember him just going to her and playing tag, saying, ‘you’re it,’ and she would smile and try to reach after him.”
Click images to enlarge.
In reference to Kiarra’s athletic abilities, Mr. Tabo also highlighted her skill and drive to improve.
“She was an excellent player. Her IQ in volleyball was pretty up there. She knew how to move on the court, she was able to read the defense well. One of the things that really struck me is her willingness and her wanting to learn. Whenever I would give instructions of pointing out things to the girls on how they could improve their game, she had her eyes focused, her attention was given to me; she wants to know, she wants to learn.”
One of the things Kiarra wanted to improve on last year was how to do an overhand serve.
“She would pull me aside and say: ‘Hey Mr. Tabo, where do I hit the ball when I am doing this overhand serve?’ Then this year, she pulled me aside again and said: ‘how do I spike really hard?’ She always wanted to improve her game, she always wanted to get better.”
My Personal Thoughts (Mr. Petgrave)
Kiarra (right )and close friend Aralyn look at a photography exhibit at the Navajo Museum, Library and Visitor Center.
A view of the photography exhibit Kiarra was looking at.
Another one of Kiarra’s interests was photography. As the school's storyteller and photographer, it was really refreshing for me to watch and help her explore that.
My first memorable interaction with Kiarra involved her approaching me last school year to ask what kind of camera I used. She was interested in getting a camera for herself. I remember telling her the camera I was using (at the time) was really old, so I offered some more recent budget-friendly options to her.
Later that year, I was hosting a photography field trip for one of our MAPS Sunday activities. Ten students signed up for it, and I was delighted to see Kiarra’s name on the roster. It was fun watching her and the other students unlock their creative eye, given the techniques and challenges I had shared with them.
The last and most memorable interaction I had with Kiarra happened on the Navajo Language class field trip with Mr. Hubbard. I was there to take photos of the trip, and it was my first time visiting the Navajo Museum, the capital, and Window Rock. In the park near the capital, Mr. Hubbard led our students in making a common Navajo delicacy—fry bread.
After taking photos, I thought of joining in and learning how to make it with the students. That is when I discovered that Kiarra’s sense of humor flies under the radar.
As Mr. Tabo mentioned, Kiarra can seem quiet and reserved, at least that's what I thought whenever I spoke with her before this moment. As I was attempting to (very poorly) shape my fry bread, Kiarra wasted no time cracking jokes on me about the appearance of my fry bread. I was conflicted. On the one hand, it felt good being able to see that side of her and seeing her open up like that, but it was also at the cost of my dignity.
It felt like I leveled up in getting to know her, even at my own expense. I'll take it.
As we were packing up to leave, and the sun was getting low beyond the famous Window Rock formation, I was helping Mr. Hubbard gather all the students when Kiarra asked to use my camera to take a picture (the audacity). I obliged, but I was too busy gathering the other students to focus on what she was taking a photo of or what her creative process was like. It wasn't until after we had all settled on the bus and I had my camera back in hand that I could look at the photos she took. That was a proud moment for me. The image of the golden sunset-lit Window Rock formation that she captured was aesthetically calming yet graceful, very much like her.
Kiarra (left) and Kimberly shaping their fry bread during a Navajo Language class field trip in Window Rock.
Kiarra and other students wait in line for the frying pan.
Kiarra’s sunset image of Window Rock, taken at the Window Rock Navajo Tribal Park & Veterans Memorial
The Hope That Carries Us
There are many other memories from countless experiences and numerous people she spent time with that will forever be in our hearts. As I write, it is still unreal that Kiarra is no longer with us. We, at Holbrook Indian School, can not feel as deep a chasm as that of Kiarra’s family in the loss of their Shiyazi (little one), yet we mourn with them. For our other students who were injured physically and emotionally, we feel their pain. Were it not for the hope of life beyond the grave, of life beyond pain and sorrow and tragedy, this reality would crush us. We carry this hope—a hope of eternity—or it might be better said that this hope carries us.
More Photos from the school life of kiarra
The family has established a memorial fund; please visit https://www.facebook.com/falonna.ashley for details.
The Pacific Union Conference made a gift to the family of Kiarra Gordon to cover funeral expenses.
Holbrook Indian School established an Accident Assistance Fund to assist all HIS students affected by this tragic event. Gifts for this fund can be made at: HolbrookIndianSchool.org/donate
Contact for Accident Assistance Fund:
Diana Fish
dfish@hissda.org
Thank you for your support.