"Chris Dunshee came back after suffering a heart attack and lost three more of his "children" this year — one to complications of childbirth, another to an accidental shooting and a third whose remains were found weeks after she failed to return to class and vanished.

Like Dunshee, Chris Jourdain was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and continues to work in perhaps the only elementary school in the state that has a metal detector at the main entrance and tinted windows so people cannot see in from the outside.

Both men get an A-plus in my book. Both were among the indirect casualties of Jeff Weise, the 16-year-old who shot and killed nine people and wounded seven more before taking his own life five years ago Sunday. All but two of the shootings happened in the high school here.

Both men have ample reason to work anywhere else. But both not only chose to stay, but considered it a calling to remain. Why? It's simple. The kids.

"My time here was like 'A Tale of Two Cities,' " said Dunshee, who'd been the high school principal for seven years at the time of the shootings and now holds the same position at the Red Lake Indian Reservation's Alternative Learning Center.

"It was the worst of times because of what happened five years ago, but also it was the best of times," added Dunshee, 62, who will retire at the end of this academic year. "You will not find a place anywhere where people care more about their kids. And just so if you are an educator, that's where you want to be.""

Get the Story:
Ruben Rosario: Red Lake educators stayed, for kids' sake (The St. Paul Pioneer Press 3/22)

Also Today:
Into the future: Leader says killings won't define Red Lake (The St. Paul Pioneer Press 3/22)
At school: Tragedy stirs new commitment to students (The St. Paul Pioneer Press 3/20)

Related Stories:
Red Lake Nation sues BIA over juvenile detention facility (3/22)
MinnPost: Red Lake facility sits unused after five years (2/26)