WILLIAMSTOWN – Three eighth graders at St. Mary School here are considered heroes today for their quick thinking and responsible actions last Friday morning.
James McGee, Krista Iuliucci and Kevin Edmondson were on a school bus with 11 other students ranging from first to seventh grade when the bus hit another vehicle. The driver was thrown out of the bus and into the street as the bus rammed into a tree on First and Central avenues in the Winslow/Cedarbrook area.
The bus, which was provided by the Winslow Township School District, was about halfway through its route when the accident occurred.
“We were just shocked at what happened,” said James McGee.
Some students were not even sure what had happened to the bus driver until after the vehicle had crashed. All of the children on the bus were wearing their seatbelts, and no one was seriously injured.
“Some of the kids in the front of the bus were crying because they were scared,” said Krista Iuliucci. The quick thinking eighth graders quickly tended to the situation at hand.
James McGee went to the front of the bus and tended to the younger kids by trying to calm them down. Krista Iuliucci used a cell phone to call 911, while Kevin Edmondson worked on opening the emergency exit door in the back of the bus.
“I’m very proud of them,” said principal Judy McBride. “They handled a tough situation really well.”
After the kids were out of the bus, the eighth graders had the younger students call their parents to let them know they were OK.
“They took care of the little kids, which is most important. They’re our school heroes,” said McBride, who also said that when she went to the site, she witnessed the entire front end of the bus crumble when it was being removed by workers.
Things are back to normal now for the students, but the accident is still fresh in the memory of some of the students.
“When we hit a brake, some of the younger kids get a little scared,” said Kevin Edmondson in talking about the bus rides to school this past week.