Graduation is a time for reflection, fun, and thinking of what the future might hold. At Clarke Road High School the students are thinking about one more thing.
On May 29, 2006, Stephanie and Ashley Daubs were killed by their father when he intentionally crashed his vehicle into an oncoming dump truck in what can be described as filicide, the deliberate act of a parent killing his or her own children. John Daubs also died in the crash.
Ashley was 15 at the time and Stephanie was 12. Ashley would have been graduating from Clarke Road this year with her friends and classmates and Stephanie would be entering Grade 10. Instead, as the school year nears its end, students, family and friends have only the memories of two very vivacious, mischievous, funny and ever-smiling girls.
These memories were captured on a video. The video, launched on May 29, 2009, the third anniversary of that tragic event, tells the story of the girls; how the students knew them, either through sports, or as childhood friends, or through mutual interests.
And not just the wonderful memories, but also the impact their untimely deaths had on the lives of those left behind. At times, the video is hard to watch, especially when the girls’ mother Debbie speaks of the mental and verbal abuse she suffered and the girls witnessed at the hands of their father.
The students hope to raise awareness of abuse and what individuals can do if they or someone they know is being abused.
This project came about in January. Chelsea Dodd – a longtime friend of the girls – said, “We wanted to add to the three-on-three basketball tournament held annually in Springbank Park in memory of the girls with funds raised going to the London Abused Women’s Centre.”
The video, according to Kayla Boyd, “Came about as a group of friends and I wanted to make a video about the lives of Ashley and Stephanie Daubs to commemorate the girls for who they were and to also help others. We didn't want to have this happen to any other teenager, so we decided that the best way to get the message across was to make a video targeting students Grades 6-12.”
The students held after school meetings discussing the consequences of women and child abuse. These meetings also helped in the grieving process. The students had someone to talk to and this kept them from feeling isolated.
Initially it was just a small project the students wanted to keep within themselves, but with the help of the London Abused Women's Centre and most notably Megan Walker, the students were able to have a huge media launch nation wide and send out the video to school boards across the nation with a teachers manual that can be used to help the teachers use the video as an instructional tool.
Prior to the launch at Clarke Road the video was played at Bonaventure Meadows Public School where Stephanie had been a student.
Among those attending the video launch at Clarke Road were the family and friends of Stephanie and Ashley; the teachers and student body of Clarke Road; politicians Bud Polhill, a member of Board of Control who made a very emotional opening statement about the devastating impact of abuse his own sister suffered at the hands of an abusive partner; Irene Mathyssen, London-Fanshawe MP; and Megan Walker, executive director of the London Abused Women’s Centre who could be overheard as saying, “These were an incredible group of kids who worked on this project and I wish they were all my own.”
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