School mourns student’s death

Scheduled in-service teacher training at the Nodaway-Holt R-VII Middle School/High School in Graham meant there were no classes Monday on what would have been the first day back at school for students following a weekend highway accident that claimed the life of Nodaway-Holt senior Sydnie M. Messner.

Middle school/high school Principal Terry Petersen Jr. said there was to be an all-student assembly this morning in order to give students, faculty and staff a chance to begin dealing with their grief.

In addition, all extra-curricular activities have been cancelled for this evening so that students and district patrons can attend visitation from 5-7 p.m. at Price Funeral Home in Maryville. The district has also cancelled classes on Wednesday, when funeral services will take place at 2 p.m. in the Nodaway-Holt High School Auditorium.

Petersen said two counselors and an ordained minister will be on campus today to offer guidance and comfort to students in the wake of the tragedy. He added that neighboring districts have been “very helpful” and have placed additional counselors on standby should their services be required.

District staff were working Monday to “have everything in place” for Messner’s friends and classmates when they return to class, Petersen said.

“It’s going to take a while, but we’ll get through it,” he said of the sense of loss and grief pervading the school, which serves as the communal heart of the tightly knit Graham community, a town of about 170 people in southwest Nodaway County.

Messner died late Saturday in a one-vehicle accident on Route V a mile west of Galaxy Road.

Pronounced dead at the scene at 11:25 p.m. by Nodaway County Coroner Vince Shelby, Messner, 17, was a passenger in a 2002 Mercury Cougar driven by Ty B. Willtrout, 18, Maryville.

Willtrout was seriously injured in the wreck and was transported by helicopter ambulance to Heartland Regional Medical Center in St. Joseph.

Two other passengers, Dalton M. Hall, 17, Maryville, and Ashley L. Scott, 17, Maitland, suffered moderate injuries and were taken by Nodaway County ambulance to St. Francis Hospital in Maryville.

None of the accident victims was wearing a seat belt, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Nodaway County Sheriff Darren White said Monday the patrol is continuing its investigation into the wreck, but that preliminary indications were that alcohol consumption was not a factor.