Another Angel Has Lefted Us..
The day began with a moment of silence and then the student body was informed that Lisa Michelle Wade, a 15-year-old Garrett County girl, had been killed Wednesday night. According to state police, she was struck by a pickup truck while walking along the shoulder of Route 135 east of South Side Lane on Backbone Mountain.
"This is a small community. A lot of the students knew last evening what had happened. That's when I activated the crisis team," said Westmar Principal Jay Walbert.
"People are telling me she was a very vibrant child who was a friend to everyone in school," said Loralee Farrell, coordinator of health and family life for the Allegany County Board of Education and one of the crisis team members.
Farrell was part of a crisis team of a counselor, a school psychologist, and a pupil personnel worker who were in the school to help the students and faculty cope with the most recent loss to their student body. Wade is the third person in her class to die this year.
Wade was responsible for putting together a Web site about Eddie Rogers, a classmate of hers who was killed in January when a derailed CSX train crashed through his home.
"We allowed the kids to spend time together today," said Farrell.
In many cases, student peer helpers were matched up with an adult and the two would sit down to talk with grieving students.
Walbert said this was done because "kids tend to want to talk with other kids about how they feel."
Wade was a 10th-grader at Westmar and a student athlete participating in soccer, cross country, basketball and softball.
The school athletic teams, who were given the choice of whether to play games Thursday evening, chose to play.
"It's important to have positive activities for the students at this time," said Walbert.
The students also put together a remembrance ceremony before Thursday evening's soccer game.
Walbert said that sign boards had been posted and students were allowed to write their concerns on them. The sign boards will eventually be given to Wade's family.
State police continue to investigate the accident, which was responded to by Medevac helicopter, Tri-Towns Rescue Squad and Blooomington Volunteer Fire Company. The driver of the pickup, James Thomas Blank, 42, Oakland, was taken to Sacred Heart Hospital."
