TRIBUTE TO ALANA

Just one day after learning his Culpeper County High School classmate died in a car crash last week, Jonathan Hill wasted no time paying tribute to her in his own way.

Jonathan, a 17-year-old CCHS senior, stenciled “We miss you. We love you. RIP Alana” on the side and back windows of his burgundy Ford Focus Aug. 28.

Alana Michelle Hester died Aug. 27 following a two-vehicle wreck on U.S. 15 in front of Pearl Sample Elementary School. She was 17.

“She was the most harmless person I ever met. She was always in a good mood,” said Jonathan, as he pulled his car into the Yowell Meadow Park parking lot Wednesday afternoon. “It really affected me.”

Katie Hunton, an 18-year-old CCHS senior, who attended Monday’s memorial service at Culpeper Baptist Church, shared Jonathan’s sentiments.

“She was an amazing person,” said Katie, sitting inside Jonathan’s car Wednesday afternoon. “She was the nicest person in school.”

Jonathan and Katie’s tributes are a sample of what CCHS students are doing after their classmate’s untimely death.

In just a short period of time, CCHS students and administrators were able to put together an impromptu memorial service on Aug. 28 inside the auditorium complete with several personal tributes for
Alana, a longtime Devilette soccer player.

Here’s a list of what CCHS students have done since last week:
ncreated a memorial at Alana’s parking spot Aug. 28 with flowers and messages written in chalk

ntransformed the senior courtyard into a colorful memorial garden full of mums and assorted flowers

nwrote messages on a makeshift memory wall to Alana and gave it to her parents, Alan and Linda

nlandscaped around the senior rock and spray-painted Alana’s name on it and added teddy bears next to it

nCCHS student Chris Frazier donated $100 to a fund created on Alana’s behalf. He won the cash during the EVHS-CCHS football game on Aug. 29 by kicking a 20-yard field goal

The tributes continue as visitors walk through the hallways at CCHS. A picture of the young soccer player adorns the wall across from the auditorium.

The same photograph of the young Devilette, who wore the No. 1 jersey, also sits in the main office with the words:

In loving memory of Alana Hester. And in the end…the love you take is equal to the love you make. Thank you for all of the love you shared with us.

CCHS Principal Jeff Dietz said he’s amazed at how his students have rallied together in such a short period of time to produce an abundance of memorials for Alana.

“I think that we give our kids a lot of responsibility in terms of things that they need to do to make the school the place that it is. And I think they reap the benefits of their level maturity and their level of responsibility on Friday,” Dietz said, sitting in his office Monday. “I learned more from watching them and talking to them on Friday than I could have offered to them.

“Our kids came together and offered a level of support to each other that really — in the long run — is going to allow the healing process to come full circle and also allow them to honor her memory without us saying ‘here’s what you have to do,’” he said.

Sitting across from Dietz, CCHS Assistant Principal Gwen Brown agreed.

“It was just so beautiful just to see them giving comfort to each other and the level of care was just extraordinary,” she said. “Sometimes youth get a bad rap and so forth. But with these kids, I’m looking forward to them being leaders. They definitely showed that innate ability to lead.”

Dietz added that Alana was able to transcend the usual high school cliques by trying to erase some of the social circles.

“It was very evident in the way that the support systems were in place and a variety of students that were touched by her passing and by her living,” he said. “And it wasn’t just the soccer team. It wasn’t just the athletes or the kids in the upper level classes. It was pretty much across the board.”

Coach/students’ perspective
CCHS soccer coach Erick Kalenga, who spoke during last Friday’s memorial service at CCHS, said Alana’s teammates will continue to make frequent visits to her family.

A three-year soccer veteran, Alana’s position was defense. Last spring, she was promoted to captain.

“She was definitely ready to come back strong this year,” said Kalenga, who plans to begin conditioning at the end of November. “She always had a smile on her face. She was definitely a caring and gentle person.”

Longtime friend and CCHS student, Kaylee Mullins was one of the first students to line up to board a school bus Monday morning headed to Alana’s memorial service at Culpeper Baptist Church.

Sporting a tie-dye T-shirt (Alana’s favorite style), Kaylee described her friend as “sweet and loving.”

“She was nice to everyone,” said Kaylee, a 16-year-old CCHS junior. “She always had a smile on her face.”