Staff, Former Students Share Impact of Slain Birmingham School Teacher

The staff at West Maple Elementary School in Bloomfield Township had a difficult day as students returned Wednesday following the devastating news of beloved teacher Harry Berkowitz's death. Yet the building's and district's staff, the students and school family are helping each other through it, Birmingham Public Schools spokeswoman Marcia Wilkinson said.

"(They) have pulled together to support one another during this very sad time," she said late Wednesday afternoon.

The district had grief counselors and additional support staff at the building and will continue to do so this week.

Berkowitz, 72, was shot multiple times by his roommate Thomas Ian Matthews  in the Franklin home they shared on Charles Lane Tuesday, police confirmed. Matthews, 33, later ended his own life during a standoff with police in a Royal Oak home that afternoon. Autopsies were scheduled Wednesday and the Franklin-Bingham Farms Police Department continues to investigate what happened.

The Impact

Berkowitz worked in the Birmingham Public Schools for nearly 47 years, and most recently was a specialist for students at West Maple Elementary School. Classes resumed as scheduled Wednesday, but the district's crisis team and grief counselors were mobilized.

Birmingham Public Schools Public Schools administrators and a Bloomfield Township police officer were parked on the corners of the school's parking lot Wednesday morning, in an effort to ensure the students got in the building without distraction.

The tragedy won't just affect the current students. Several of Berkowitz's former students turned to social media and Internet chat rooms to spread the word and comfort each other. Bloomfield Hills native Emma Brown was among them. Brown said she had Berkowitz in the third grade, and again for science in the fourth grade.

She said she vividly remembers, and appreciates, his positive attitude and friendly approach to teaching. She still keeps in touch with a few friends from elementary school and heard about Berkowitz's death through the tight-knit group on Facebook late Tuesday afternoon.

"He just seemed like he loved his job, and he too the time to make sure students got the help they needed," the 20-year-old recalled Tuesday night by telephone from her apartment in Virginia, where she attends James Madison University.

Berkowitz also had a way of pushing students to try with incentives and rewarded them with fun 'prizes.'

"He also make everything really fun," she said. "He was probably the best teacher I had at West Maple."

Initially, Brown said she assumed Berkowitz died of natural causes and was shocked when details of Tuesday's events started to emerge.

"I couldn't believe it when I heard the circumstances," Brown said. "Who would murder a teacher, and one that was so well liked?"