DES MOINES, Iowa — For the first time since the Jan. 4 school shooting, Perry High School had an organized school event. The girls and boys basketball teams played a doubleheader against Saydel at Wells Fargo Arena.
The girls won 51-35 and the boys lost, but that's not the impact this Tuesday night will have.
"Whatever the score is up on that scoreboard, it's the beginning of a huge healing process," said Perry Superintendent Clark Wicks.
This game counted on the schedule, just like any other. And just like any other game, it was a distraction from the outside world.
"When we get on the floor, we don't think about what happened, we think about what we're doing," said David Morris, head coach for the boy's basketball team. "And when you can distract your mind like that and do something that you love. It really helps."
The healing starts as the community gathers together.
"What a lot of the experts are saying is that we all heal at different levels," Wicks said. "And we all need different kinds of interactions. So what it does, I think, is give these kids a different interaction, what they've had the previous six, seven days. Now they're seeing their friends in a little different light and getting back to normalcy."