‘One Step at a Time’: Former administrator writes book after surviving shooting
By Donna Pitman
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OLATHE, Kansas (KMBC) — What started as a normal morning four years ago held a moment that would forever change Kaleb Stoppel’s life.
Olathe East students alerted administrators to something abnormal: word that a classmate had a gun in his backpack.
Within the hour, Stoppel found himself grappling with the reality he’d been shot in the front office.
While he survived the shooting and has healed physically, Stoppel continues to work on his emotional health. He’s lived with anxiety and depression since that March morning in 2022.
Stoppel says he’d never experienced mental illness.
“I was experiencing more emotional things that were also impacting physical things,” he said.
Stoppel is learning to give space for the anxiety and depression and to give himself grace for the way he now navigates the world.
The former assistant principal and athletic director at Olathe East High School has left education but continues to teach by sharing his experiences in hopes that they’ll help others.
The latest way he’s doing that is through his book, “One Step at a Time: Surviving a School Shooting, Rebuilding my Life, and Rediscovering What Matters Most.”
Stoppel says someone doesn’t have to have survived a shooting for it to resonate with them. It’s for the many people living with anxiety and depression.
“It’s really important to me that this book opens the door to have people just think about their own life, what truly matters to them,” he said. “It is a daily journey still of knowing my limits, what my coping strategies are and how I can go day by day.”
Stoppel’s book is available on Amazon and Stoppel’s website.
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