Heritage Elementary second-graders celebrate life of late classmate
More than 100 second-graders at Heritage Elementary school celebrated the life of a 7-year-old classmate with a release of 800 pink and purple balloons that faded into the sky Wednesday afternoon.
"We used to always play on the playground," second-grader Jessica Coon said of her late classmate, Zhia Franklin, who died after a crash near Colquitt on the way back from visiting her grandmother April 2. Jessica said the balloon release is a way to "still share all of your love to her even though she's not down here."
Zhia's mother, 30-year-old Tina Marie Butler, and brother, 1-year-old Marcus "Mo" Oates Jr., also were killed in the crash on Ga. 91 after the SUV they were riding in flipped into a ditch that was flooded with several feet of water.
Zhia was taken to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital where she was in a coma until she died a few days later. The driver of the car, Mo's father, was uninjured.
Zhia's classmates sent get-well cards to her just hours before the straight-A student died.
Outside the Thomaston Road school Wednesday, colorful plastic windmills were staked in the ground around a sign that read, "We love you Zhia!" Grieving classmates expressed a mix of tears and laughter.
"I could see by the looks on some of their faces, it was a fun activity, of course. Different things trigger different children, and (there are) still some tears. But we're here for that journey for them," said Jennifer Askew, the school's principal. "The purpose of today is we were trying to give the children an opportunity to have some closure. They've had such a sad time dealing with the loss of a classmate."
A funeral service for the family is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at the old Miller County High School in Colquitt.
Parents have come forward wanting to donate a tree and a bench in Zhia's honor, Askew said. After the bench is engraved, students in Zhia's class will take part in a private ceremony in the school's interior courtyard, Askew said.
"Just remember, it's not the number of days that we have, but the number of lives that we touch," Assistant Principal Vickie Logue told the students while standing beside a picture of Zhia wearing a cowboy hat. "In Zhia's own special way, she's touched every life that is present today."
A Zhia Franklin Family Memorial Fund is set up at all MidSouth Community Federal Credit Union locations to help with funeral expenses.
To contact writer Laura Corley, call 744-4334 and follow her on Twitter@Lauraecor.
This story was originally published April 13, 2016 at 6:55 PM with the headline "Heritage Elementary second-graders celebrate life of late classmate ."