NORTON - Responding to parents and students struggling with the tragic shootings of a Norton woman and her two daughters last month, school officials will hold a domestic violence workshop Friday.

The 90-minute session at 9 a.m. at Norton High School will be run by New Hope in Attleboro, an agency that supports people affected by domestic violence and sexual assault.

A New Hope staff member will discuss with parents "how to educate their kids, and how to deal with the trauma and the issue of domestic violence," school adjustment counselor Ellen Dufour said Monday.

The group also will discuss the dynamics of an abusive relationship, and how situations might escalate.

A question-and-answer session will follow. The workshop is the latest Norton community response to the shooting rampage of Aug. 25-26 that left Elizabeth Cann and their family dog dead and Cann's daughters, Danielle Cann, 16, and her sister Brittany, 12, wounded.

On Aug. 27, the two sisters and their murdered mother, Elizabeth Cann, 44, were found shot in the head on the second floor of their home at 384 Reservoir St. in Norton. They were shot by Elizabeth Cann's estranged ex-boyfriend, Robert McDermott, 39, who later committed suicide on the train tracks in Walpole.

Danielle was reported in serious condition, and Brittany was reported in fair condition at Hasbro Children's Hospital in Providence, a hospital spokeswoman said Monday night.

Meanwhile, Norton High School students have organized a 12-hour walkathon for Oct. 19 to help the Canns pay medical bills and other expenses.

Open to students and adults from the whole area, the event will ask teams of four to six people to have at least one person walking the Norton High School track from 7 p.m. Oct. 19 to 7 a.m. Oct. 20, sophomore Kimberly Birkett told the school committee Monday night.

Admission will be $10 per team member, Birkett said.

A committee of three sophomores and three juniors are assembling the event, which will include activities in the school, Birkett said.

The school committee unanimously approved the fundraiser.

"It sounds like it'll be a lot of fun," Chairman Kevin O'Neil said.

"This is a good example of what I like about the high school. Kids are encouraged to come up with ideas like this." October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

A number of community groups have donated funds to help the Cann family.

MICHAEL GELBWASSER covers Norton for The Sun Chronicle. He can be reached at 508-236-0439 or at mgelbwasser@thesunchronicle.com.