CULLMAN, Ala. – “We have had a day of tears and grief at East Elementary,” said an emotional East Elementary Principal David Wiggins Sunday night.
Earlier Sunday, around 12:30 p.m., Tyler Wesley Walker, 40, and his daughter, 10-year-old Brooklyn Walker, of Vinemont were killed in a plane crash at Cullman Regional Airport. Brooklyn was a fifth grader at East Elementary.
Wiggins spent Sunday afternoon and evening meeting with family members at the airport and his faculty and staff at the school, where classes are set to resume Monday after Christmas break.
“We have done everything we can think to do to be prepared to meet the needs of our students and staff,” he said. “We have held a faculty staff meeting here tonight at East Elementary to discuss plans to meet student needs tomorrow. Counselor Amber Hembree and I have met with counselors from other schools to go over the plan of how to best serve student needs tomorrow.”
Wiggins said a number of counselors will be at the school Monday to assist with students’ emotional needs, and the PTO will be providing support to teachers and staff whenever a teacher needs a break for an emotional moment. He said he and Hembree called the parents of each child in Brooklyn’s homeroom Sunday to make sure they know what happened.
“Our focus right now is on supporting Brooklyn’s family, and supporting her siblings,” he said. “You know, she has a brother in sixth grade and a sister in third grade. Not only did we lose a student, we lost a parent at East Elementary and we have children here who lost a sister and a father in the same day.”
The school plans to announce later tonight that it will be collecting money for the family. Wiggins said each grade level will be doing something.
“We are circling the wagons to protect our students emotionally. We are all hands on deck to do whatever is needed,” he said.
Wiggins took a moment to speak about Brooklyn, still speaking of her in the present with a crack in his voice.
“She is one of our sweetest, brightest, most beautiful children. She’s a dream of a student, not just academically- because academics are important, but most important is your character, and Brooklyn had the sweetest disposition. She was a star archer on our archery team, along with her brother,” he said. “I have spent more time crying today, and when I thought I had it out, and I got to the school with Mrs. Hembree and we had a good cry, and of course meeting with the faculty, tears for this child seem endless.”
Wiggins said he met with a grandmother today at the airport and talked about Brooklyn’s love for archery, airplanes and horses.
He said he is preparing a supportive, informational statement for each classroom to be shared with students Monday morning.
“We want to let our kids know that we are here for them, beyond today, and if they need anything, just ask anybody and we’ll take care of it for them. We’re going to go through a sadness day. The kids have to know they’re not alone. We’re going to make sure they know that.”
He continued, “We ask for support for the family, prayers for the family and prayers for our school family. Our teachers and our staff are hurting right now. Our kids are going to be hurting tomorrow. They’re going to need a lot of support as well. We just need strength and wisdom and comfort to get through this. There are no words. I had a beautiful opportunity to be with the grandmother today. I can’t imagine the grief of this mother and these two children, but I’m afraid of imagining it. We can’t imagine what the family is going through right now, but we are here for anything that they need.”
Copyright 2020 Humble Roots, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
