MOOD 'SOMBER' IN GRANTON
Monday, March 27th, 2006 -- 9:48 AM
Audio - 2:44Granton?s principal says the mood is ?somber? as students mourn the loss of a schoolmate killed in a Friday night traffic crash.
Craig Anderson says 16-year-old Dusty Ohnesorge was a junior who had just moved to the district within the past year.
?He could light up a room. He had a very outgoing personality. Very funny and very popular in our student body,? Anderson says. ?He?d only been here for about a year, (but) he fit perfectly with our students.?
Ohnesorge participated in basketball, baseball and the FFA, Anderson says.
?We only have a hundred kids in the high school, so these kids all know each other. It makes it perhaps even worse, because everybody knows everybody? but at the same time, it's a positive because our kids are so close, they can console each other like a small family,? Anderson says.
Ohnesorge and two other youths were walking on Granton Road, just west of the Village limits, when a truck driven 17-year-old Mathew Anibas, also a junior at Granton High School, struck him.
Officials do not believe alcohol, drugs or excessive speed were factors in the accident, according to Chief Deputy Jim Backus of the Clark County Sheriff?s Department.
?We have a crash reconstructionist working (the scene) right now to take the width of the road and find out where the boys were walking and where the impact was,? Backus says, adding no charges are expected to be filed.
It was likely getting dark at that time of the crash, Backus says.
The school was opened Saturday afternoon for students who needed help dealing with the tragedy.
?We had fifty kids. We had several staff that came in. We had several parents that came in,? Anderson says. Guidance counselors from Neillsville and Greenwood also were on hand to help grieving students.
Students were told during a Monday morning assembly that counseling remains available.
?We're trying to get back to business as usual, even though it's going to be far from. We do have counselors on hand and if they need to get out of class and be with each other, that?s something we can respect and we?ll allow that to happen as long as it take,? Anderson says.
Anderson notes both the victim?s and driver?s families attended the assembly today.
Obituary information: [url=http://cwbradio.com/news/obituaries.php]Dusty Ohnesorge[/url]
On the Web: [url=http://www.granton.k12.wi.us/]Granton Schools[/url]
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