EMORY, Texas — Community members are continuing to mourn the loss of three East Texas children who were killed in a car wreck Friday night.
"It's tragic anytime you lose students. The thought of losing three at one time is heart wrenching," said Rains ISD Superintendent Joe Nicks. "It's a small community. So all of our students are pretty well known to one another. The teachers certainly know the students well."
Alexander, 14, Alvin, 10, and Amara Grandy, 13, were killed following a Grayson County wreck Friday night on US Highway 69, the Texas Department of Public Safety said. Their father Hyrum Gandy was injured, but was released from the hospital on Saturday, according to family members.
"It's tough on the staff. A lot of the teachers know these kids really well," Nicks said. "They've grown up here, and several of them have known the students for a number of years. So that's gonna be difficult on the teachers, and so it's a struggle. There's no doubt."
State Rep. Cole Hefner has helped spread the word about a GoFundMe to help with funeral expenses.
"So they're getting there, getting that family some help, and just going to be praying for them, thinking about them, and looking for ways to help them, if we can," Hefner said.
Nicks said surrounding school districts have graciously sent some extra counselors to Rains ISD.
"So we had about a dozen extra counselors on hand today to help with the students," Nicks said. "It was very beneficial. Obviously, we have counselors in place and administrators that know the students well, and I think we're serving them well."
Nicks said he continues to help support the family however he can in this time.
"Just that we care about them and we love their students, we love their children," Nicks said. "And if there's anything that we can do for them, we are certainly willing to do that."
A memorial will be held in honor of the Grandy siblings at 8 p.m. on Wednesday at Wildcat Stadium. Also to show support, the district is asking community members to wear blue on Wednesday.