A Solemn Anniversary: The Oak Hill Middle School Bus Crash
Share your memories and thoughts in the comments section below.
Eleven years ago today, the Newton community was struck with tragedy when four Oak Hill Middle School students were killed in a bus accident in New Brunswick, Canada.
Despite the decade gone by, the Newton community still works to keep alive the memory of eighth grader Mellissa Leung and seventh graders Kayla Rosenberg, Greg Chan and Stephen Glidden.
The four students were members of the school band, which was on its way to a school performance in Halifax. Forty-two students were on board the bus with five chaperones, many of them seriously injured.
For full details and background, check out this CNN report from the tragedy.
Each year, the community holds a Circle of Remembrance outside Oak Hill Middle School to mark the tragic day and celebrate the lives of Kayla, Melissa, Greg and Stephen. Family, friends, classmates and community members gather to share stories, songs and inspirational readings. This video from NewTV includes coverage from last year's Circle of Remembrance.
The Village 14 blog notes that the tradition of the Circle of Remembrance will continue tonight at 6 p.m. Community members are welcome to come by to not only remember four students who died in the accident, but any other child or family member lost over the years.
While Newton Patch cannot search back in archives to share history of this tragedy (as we've only been around since late 2010), we invite you, our readers, to share your thoughts and memories in the comments section below.
Choo Choo
7:32 pm on Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Ten years ago I was walking home from work along Washington St. A minority owned construction company had badly managed the reconstruction. A day or so before the company finished grinding the street so that dirt and asphalt dust hung in the air. I could barely see the traffic lights at rte 30/16 from Temple Reyim.
I called city hall to complain about the dangerous mixture of asphalt and dust. The responder said the city was in shock over the deaths in the bus crash. When I said that that sad event did not mean that city's public services had to stop, she slammed the phone down.
Five years ago the Tab had an insert for the kids and their friends who were graduating. Now it's the tenth anniversary. What will we do for the fifteenth, twentieth ....
I was in a bus crash July 2011. I was unsconscious for five minutes. I got some nasty bruises and three damaged discs in my back. I will probably never be able to bicycle again, much less do anything that involves rotating my upper body with exertion and weight. Maybe my condition will change in the next 9 months because the neurologist said to wait between one and 1.5 years.
I do not expect sympathy. But I do notice that people think I am "tense" (because I move my body deliberately). I am still sensitive to light and sound.
My final thought: teach the kids to get over bad things sooner rather than later. I see these prolonged grieving periods as dangerously self-indulgent. Over time the real world does not care.
Martinet annabelle
9:00 am on Friday, September 14, 2012
My name is annabelle i from france i was at oak hill when the accudent as been!! Melissa was my friend and i miss her so much.i think at they all rhe day