In August of 2024, a landslide swept through the bypass of Ketchikan. It destroyed and damaged multiple homes, and there was one casualty, community member Sean Griffen.
The community came together to memorialize the tragedy. Members of Kayhi’s chapter of the National Honor Society started to meet after school. In one hand, they had a paintbrush. In the other, a rock.
Kayhi senior Braidyn Young has been a part of the National Honor Society in both her junior and senior years. She said that rock painting works as a reminder and brings the community together.
“And it really started because we did lose a community member and we wanted to do something to remember them, and also to kind of make a space that’s now pretty ugly, kind of pretty again,” Young said. “Because that landslide cut our town in half pretty much.”
In memorial, Kayhi’s honor society is working on a permanent plaque in partnership with the streets department for the City of Ketchikan, where Sean Griffen worked. The plaque will be placed at Refuge Cove State Park with the tree they planted and fenced off in his memory. The plaque has a picture of Mr. Griffen and recognizes what he meant to the community. The honors society also has the rock painting on the bypass itself.
“Art is really, really good for us as people to be able to process how we feel and what’s going on for us,” Young said. “So, not only would it be incredible, it would just be incredible to see community art up there as well because we can only paint so much as a high school service group,”
National Honor Society, better known as NHS, is a group of students at Kayhi who not only have good grades but also spend their time looking for ways to help their school and community. One of their biggest projects that they have been working on since the occurrence of the landslide is a memorial rock painting site on the bypass near the landslide.
Sarah Griffen, Sean’s wife, said the memorials have been meaningful for her and her family.
“It has been a really great thing to have the honor society recognize Sean’s dedication to our community,” Sarah said. “The rock painting we saw pictures of, when there were beautiful rocks with a lot of thought put into them, and where they were gonna go. But we were not comfortable going up to the bypass.”
But the Griffens had their own way of honoring their loved one.
“We had a family gathering that just Sean’s family, and we all painted rocks,” Sarah said. “We have our own little memorial at our house with the rocks, but I think that’d be a wonderful way to include our community.”
Rhonda Bolling is the NHS advisor. In 2025, NHS received the National Award for Excellence in Service, and the rock painting was highlighted and recognized as part of the reason for receiving this award.
“We wanted to include the family as well, but the family at the time didnt want to go to the bypass, which is understandable,” Bolling said. “But we wanted to do it for the community, for you know, the people who lost their houses, the firefighters who were helping, anybody, just because it’s kind of awful to look at spot, and it’s such a horrible reminder.”
NHS has had multiple rock painting get-togethers, painting around 200 rocks to be placed at the site.
“It’s really kind of a healing exercise,” Bolling said. “Now, we’re finding it’s much, much more than about painting the rocks and pretty rocks, but it’s more about community, and not having our phones and actually building relationships with each other.”
NHS plans to continue the rock painting and hopes to get the community involved and aware. They urge the community to contribute and join in the rock painting by stopping by and leaving your own piece of art.
This story is part of a collaboration between Kayhi’s journalism program and KRBD.
