By Melanie Patterson

The North Jefferson News



Area schools, parents and churches instantly pulled together Friday morning when a bus carrying 40 Bryan Elementary students and two teachers overturned.

The crash happened on Interstate 59 near Springville. Twenty people were injured and carried to Birmingham hospitals, according to Alabama State Troopers. There were no fatalities in the wreck.

A teacher, Amy King, and a student were airlifted to Birmingham hospitals, according to Nez Calhoun, director of public information for Jefferson County Schools.

Calhoun said three buses from Adventure Bus Charters were taking 120 Bryan Elementary fifth-graders to Chattanooga to spend the day at the Tennessee Aquarium.

The first bus left the interstate and overturned on the right shoulder near mile marker 154, according to the State Trooper report. Troopers are still investigating the cause of the accident.

Students were taken to the Springville Armory after the crash.

Calhoun said that most of the students were picked up at the armory by their parents.

The remaining students were taken back to Bryan Elementary on a school bus.

Meanwhile in Kimberly, principals and counselors from at least four surrounding schools — Mortimer Jordan High School and Fultondale, Snow Rogers and Warrior elementary schools — were at Bryan Elementary Friday morning to help.

“We all live in this community, so we know all the kids,” said Karen White, principal at Snow Rogers Elementary.

White served as assistant principal at Bryan Elementary until November 2007, when she got the position at Snow Rogers.

She was there helping Bryan Elementary counselor Jimmy Warren answer questions, organize the volunteers who were on hand and keep the school running as normally as possible.

Lisa Barnwell, a correspondent for The North Jefferson News, and her husband Gene were among the parents waiting at school.

Barnwell’s son Braxton was on the bus that overturned. Braxton was taken by ambulance to Children’s Hospital in Birmingham for a bump on his head.

Barnwell said Braxton was back home Friday afternoon and was doing well.

Angela Hardiman and others from Gardendale First Baptist Church were at the school to support her friend who had a child on the overturned bus.

Hardiman attended Bryan Elementary, as did her children.

“I couldn’t not be here,” she said.

Bryan principal Debra Campbell was at the site of the accident, and later at the hospital with injured children. However, White said that Campbell’s leadership is the reason things ran so well back at Bryan during the crisis.

She said that as soon as Campbell heard about the wreck, she immediately left for the accident scene. But Campbell used her cell phone to organize things at Bryan.

“She called my school and got everything into place,” said White. “That’s why everything went as smoothly as it did.”

Morris Police Chief Brian Cochran also went to the crash scene. He helped transport children from the scene to the staging area at the armory, and also helped organize transportation from there to the school or children’s homes.

Cochran said that it was obvious that the Jefferson County Board of Education and the board’s Transportation Department were well-prepared for such an incident.

“They did an outstanding, excellent job,” he said. He also called the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Student Resource Officers (SROs) a “godsend” at the scene.

“The Springville Police Department also did an excellent job,” he said.

Jefferson County Board of Education member Karen Smith Nix, who lives in Gardendale, was at Children’s Hospital Friday afternoon visiting with injured children and their families.

“I wanted to be there, as mom to mom, to give them a hug and tell them they were in my prayers,” said Nix.

Nix said that none of the students she talked to were concerned about their own injuries, but were asking about their friends and teachers.

Nix said that other school board members and employees were at Children’s Hospital and at UAB Hospital, where King was hospitalized.

“Our hearts are aching for them because we’re all moms and dads too,” said Nix. “That just kicks in and takes precedence over what you do in your everyday job.”

Calhoun said that school nurses and counselors from schools near the crash site also rushed to the scene to offer their assistance.

Warrior Elementary counselor Kristi Watts was on one of the buses because her daughter was on the field trip, according to Warrior Elementary principal Mike Frugoli.

“Everyone says she [Watts] did a great job,” said Nix. “She was there as a mom, but all of her experience as a guidance counselor kicked in.”

Bryan Elementary remained open on Friday. Warren sent teachers and other volunteers to each classroom to reassure the students.

Nix said that Campbell called White at Bryan and asked White to gather all of the teachers for prayer after the last bus left on Friday.

Calhoun said that Bryan Elementary would open as usual on Monday.