HENDERSON, Texas — Students and teachers at a Rusk County school are mourning the loss of a Henderson ISD third grader who was killed in a head-on crash over the weekend.
Wylie Elementary Principal Angela Dowling said he was a "very sweet kiddo."
"(A) beautiful smile every morning, wanted a big hug," is how Dowling described the third grader who passed away in a car wreck over the weekend.
According to Texas Department of Public Safety, four people were killed in the head-on crash on Highway 259 early Sunday morning. It’s a small community in Henderson where everyone is trying to cope with this loss
"Still having those important conversations, but also, you know, letting the kids know on campus that we're here for them," Dowling said.
Once the schools were notified, counselors pulled resources to help students and teachers.
"It is a very, very close-knit community. In fact, we were, you know, this I was on the phone with his kindergarten teacher yesterday, and everyone's just trying to see what they can do to help support," Dowling said.
It's support to help teachers who knew him with this loss.
"If you've worked in education, the teachers who work with the smallest kids are typically the most emotional teachers. And so we want to make sure that we're providing them with the proper support as well," said Henderson ISD Superintendent Thurston Lamb.
That support is especially needed for classmates as they try to understand the loss.
"They were all given teddy bears, and the counselors talk to them about what had happened, and that, you know, the feelings that they might have, and that that those feelings were OK, and how to kind of understand what they were feeling," Dowling said.
Three other children were also injured in the crash. They all remain in the hospital at this time but the district said they are showing improvement.