People came from all across midwestern Ontario to stand silently outside Walkerton District Community School on Sunday night, to remember and honour four high school students and their teacher/coach, who died in a tragic crash near London on Friday. “It was difficult to walk up here. Not only because of the amount of people that was unexpected to begin with, but just to see the levels of grief and the emotions coming from our teenagers and our community all the way up to, you know, the elderly. Everyone’s affected by this being such a small town,” says Kerri Lowe, whose social media post sparked the candlelight vigil. More than 1,000 people filled the parking lot and nearby sports field of the school for a candlelight vigil in honour of Olivia Rourke, Rowan McLeod, Danica Baker, Kaydance Ford, and their teacher/coach, Matt Eckert. They were all tragically killed in a collision north of London, as they were returning to Walkerton from a school softball tournament in Dorchester, on Friday, May 23. Following an outpouring of support over the weekend, hundreds gathered outside the school and largely stood in silence. Few words, other than a few prayers were spoken as people laid flowers and candles at the front steps of the school. “I just felt like I needed to do something. My husband and I chose this town 10 years ago when we moved out of the city. And we wanted to be in a town where the community and family go hand in hand. And we got that in Walkerton,” says Lowe. Students will return to classes at Walkerton District Community School on Monday. Grief counsellors and the Bluewater District School Board’s (BWDSB) mental health team will be on hand to help both the students and staff. “It’s going to be a very heavy week here. Ensuring that the staff are feeling supported and are able to kind of gather and share their grief, and their thoughts together, so that they’ll then be able to support the students as they return to school,” says Jamie Pettit, from the BWDSB. “My son goes to the school here. It’s going to be absolutely just disheartening for so many people on Monday. It’s going to be a hard day. The school has been great with already emailing parents, kind of giving out what to expect.
