WALKERTON 鈥� The school looked about the same, except for a huge pile of flowers outside the entrance. But a palpable sadness hung thick in the air.
Students returned to Walkerton District Community School on Monday feeling that it was a very different place, knowing there were five faces they would no longer see in the halls.
Olivia Rourke, Rowan McLeod, Kaydance Ford, Danica Baker 鈥� friends, peers and teammates to so many kids at the K-12 school 鈥� and a beloved teacher, Matt Eckert, died in a crash northeast of London, Ont., on Friday.
The five were returning from a sporting event when their sport utility vehicle collided with another SUV and a transport truck.
Faith Wittman, a 16-year-old student, said outside the school Monday that she was "feeling lost without them."
She had known all four girls since kindergarten. They grew close through sports, she said.
"I just wanted so badly to believe that it wasn't real," Wittman said. "I felt like I lost a part of myself."
She said Eckert had been her teacher in Grade 5.
"He was always just, like, such a nice guy," she said of the 33-year-old teacher and coach.
There were several dozen support workers from different organizations including nearly 30 from Bluewater District School Board at school.
The board's director of education, Lori Wilder, said a mental health and tragedy response team was on site for students and school staff to "help them get through the grief that everybody's experiencing here today."
"It's been very therapeutic," she said. "We have lots of food, and there's many conversations going on, and we have spaces available for folks to go and have quiet conversations and more group conversations."
Wilder said a memorial table had been set up inside school for the five victims.
Their families made a short, private visit to the school in the afternoon, she said.
"It is an unimaginable tragedy that we're experiencing here at this school, and for our board it's a huge impact," she said.
"So we are just trying to do our best to make sure people feel supported as they grieve this terrible tragedy."
Members of her team, all of whom wore blue shirts on Monday, will have a strong presence in the school over the next two weeks and through the end of the school year, said Wilder. Mental health counsellors are always available to students, she added.
The small town of Walkerton, home to around 4,500 residents, was left reeling after news of the crash.
More than a thousand people, some of whom travelled from neighboring towns, gathered outside the girls' school Sunday evening to show support.
They lined up holding lit candles and placed them on the ground outside the school entrance, where a brown teddy bear sat next to dozens of bouquets of colourful flowers.
Andrew Boutilier said he came to the vigil, where mourners shared prayers, tears and hugs, to be there for the families and friends of the victims.
"It kind of hits close to home, especially when you have a teenager living at home," he said, adding his 17-year-old son goes to the same school.
Not only that, but Boutilier is a tow-truck driver who routinely responds to collision sites.
As a father, he said, it was difficult "knowing that, you know, it could have been your kid that was in that vehicle."
He said his teen spent the day with friends to cope with the tragedy in his own way.
"But you know, it's gonna be a day by day kind of thing, and you just try to be there for him as best as you can to help him get through it."
Ontario Provincial Police and the school board did not publicly release the names of the students, but police said two of the girls were 16 years old, and the other two were 17. Mourners confirmed their names to The Canadian Press.
Tara Twins Minor Softball said two of the girls, McLeod and Ford, were members of their team.
"Our entire Twins family is reeling from this loss, and our hearts go out to the families, friends and teammates of these beautiful athletes," the team said in a statement posted on Facebook.
"This tragedy hits harder for this association knowing that they were returning from playing the very sport of softball."
Bluewater Ballistix Volleyball Club said in a social media post that Baker played for the team.
The club shared on Facebook that teammates were grieving the loss of someone described by those who knew her as "a true ray of light," and whose spirit "lit up every room and every volleyball court she stepped onto."
The Ballistix set a blue posterboard outside the school among the flowers. It featured more than a dozen handwritten messages from Baker's teammates.
"Forever in our hearts. You will be missed," read one. Another: "We will never forget you."
Eckert, was also an assistant coach with the Owen Sound NorthStars Junior B Lacrosse club. On the weekend, its manager described him in a statement as having an "infectious smile and caring heart."
The mayor of Brockton, the municipality that includes Walkerton, was among the crowd of mourners at Sunday evening's vigil.
Chris Peabody described the tragedy as an "indescribable grief."
"It's an absolute cloud and pall across the town, and it's, it's going to take a long while to even get on the road to recovery. It is so devastating," he said in an interview.
He said he had mixed emotions seeing the crowd of mourners.
"It made me feel proud that so many people would come out to support, but very upsetting."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 26, 2025.
Sharif Hassan, The Canadian Press
