Adair County is a small county and our school system is like one big family. When one hurts, we all hurt. Today our hearts are heavy with grief and concern surrounding the tragedy that occurred Friday evening.

We want to extend our thoughts and prayers to the loved ones and friends of Macie Drake and Abby Curry, sophomores at Adair County High School. We also remain deeply concerned for Raquel Anyega, an eighth-grader at Adair County Middle School, who was seriously injured in the same accident.

On behalf of our staff, students, and school community we extend our deepest sympathies to each of these families. There is nothing worse than a parent losing a child, our school system losing a student or a community having to come terms with losing those so young. Today our families, our schools, and our communities will all be leaning on each other for support, love and guidance.

Last night our school system began implementing our crisis response plan. District and regional mental health professionals and counselors immediately went into action and began providing grief counseling for our students and faculty. We ask parents to please monitor how your child is grieving and let us know if you feel that your child needs to speak with someone about this situation. We will continue to offer these services for an extended period of time to help everybody that has been touched by this tragedy.

Once again our thoughts and prayers are with everyone that has been affected.