COLUMBIA, Ill. — The Columbia Community School District announced that classes on Thursday would be canceled to allow students to grieve the loss of a classmate and attend his funeral.
Crawford Bryant, 15, was one of four Columbia High School students riding in a car that crashed on Hanover Road in Monroe County. Bryant died from his injuries.
On Tuesday, Columbia Community Unit School District 4 Superintendent Christopher Grode said two students were still in the hospital, and the third was back home.
Classes across the district will be canceled on Thursday for Byrant's services, beginning at 10 a.m. with a gathering on the soccer field at Oerter Park and a celebration of life following an hour later. The district will provide shuttle services for students, families and staff who want to attend the service.
The district said anyone requiring shuttle service should complete this form by noon Wednesday.
Tuesday was the first day back at school, but there was a loose attendance policy. While the mood was somber, school officials worked hard to address the needs of their students.
"All the school districts around here have reached out and have sent us social workers or counselors to help us with our needs. Today, we ran through a schedule, but we had a bunch of counselors in the library who were able to work with students who wanted to process this tragedy," Grode said.
Grode said several social workers and counselors will be at the high school the rest of the week to help students process this loss.
"The community has been calling and saying, 'What can we do?' In tragedies like this, what can you do? It's unimaginable to the families for what they're going through and what the community is going through. A death of a child is tragic," Grode said.
Bryant was a sophomore at Columbia High School who played varsity soccer. Monday night, his teammates and coaches tearfully talked about how perseverant and kind he was.
"I have all these memories that are coming into my mind of just him smiling, us in the hotel room, him on the soccer field," Bryant's friend Hayes Van Breusegen told 5 On Your Side. "He was just one of those players who never gave up on the soccer field."
Less than 36 hours after the Sunday afternoon crash, hundreds gathered at Bolm-Schuhkraft for a candlelight vigil and traveled to Bryant's home Monday evening.
Because of the lack of parking at Oerter Park, buses will be shuttling people from the high school and middle school.
Waterloo High School is hosting a hat fundraiser on Wednesday, Sept. 4. The Facebook post said students may wear hats to school with a minimum donation of $1. All proceeds will go to the families affected by the accident. The high school also said the theme for their football game on Friday has changed to orange and blue to show their support for Columbia High School.
The Columbia High School boy's soccer team is scheduled to play Mascoutah Wednesday night at home. The coach plans to meet with the players to decide whether they want to play.