T-R PHOTO BY ADAM SODDERS - The devastation left by the July 19 tornado is still weighing heavy on residents who were impacted.

The July 197 tornado tore through town over two months ago, but Marshalltown students are still reporting the negative impacts the storm caused in their day-to-day lives.

To help, Center Associates and Marshalltown schools are forming groups of students to share trauma, strategies and stories with their peers.

“As far as who we’re seeing affected, all age groups, all kids,” said Center Associates Clinical Director Kim Hagen, a licensed independent social worker (LISW). “We were given a generous donation from the Mid-Iowa Cooperative and the money was for meeting the mental health needs of people who had been impacted by the tornado.”

She said the agency decided to use the money at Marshalltown Schools because “…we feel we can reach the largest amount of kids who have been affected.” The group sizes and which students participate is are still being decided and will vary building-to-building, Hagen said.

She said the students will be joined during the therapy by a Center Associates therapist, who will allow students to share their stories, what trauma they’re dealing with and if they have any coping strategies for other students to try.

Marshalltown Schools Director of Special Services Matt Cretsinger said the new group therapy program will be at every building in the district.

“We’re continuing to try to work with our kids to minimize the effects of what they’ve been through,” he said.

Despite the time between when the tornado hit and the present, Cretsinger said school counselors are still reporting issues students say they are dealing with. Among those issues are anxiety related to the weather, being distracted in class and lack of sleep.

When the tornado swept through, it mainly impacted three school neighborhoods, namely those of Rogers, Franklin and Woodbury elementary schools. Cretsinger said it’s important to have the group therapy program in all buildings, not just those directly impacted.

“I think people everywhere were affected by it,” he said of the tornado. “It’s safe to say that we are acting like every child had an exposure to trauma at some level.”

Hagen said Center Associates staff placed at the district’s schools will continue with individual meetings with students suffering from trauma. She said she hopes the group therapy will bring more students the opportunity to get an individual appointment with a mental health expert.

So far, only Franklin Elementary School has begun its group therapy program, but others are soon to follow. Hagen said the goal is to have a program in all of the district’s buildings by the end of October.

Cretsinger said the group therapy effort reflects the district’s interest in working collaboratively with students to help deal with trauma. He related the effort to the message shared by child behavior expert Dr. Stuart Ablon of Massachusetts General Hospital during presentations earlier this week.

“We’re just trying to do all we can to help our kids and give our teachers and staff the best tools we can find for them,” Cretsinger said.

For more information on the group therapy program, call the general number for a student’s school building and ask for the building’s school counselor.

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Contact Adam Sodders at

(641) 753-6611 or asodders@timesrepublican.com