SYRACUSE -- A Syracuse school is mourning the loss of a student. The principal at H.W. Smith School says a second grade student died over the Thanksgiving break during a family trip to Florida.
Principal Sharon Birnkrant tells CNYcentral seven-year-old Yukti Agarwal was killed in a car crash. The car the family was in lost control. Agarwal's younger sister is still in critical condition in Orlando. The family is still there with her. Birnkrant says she spoke to the family, who asked for prayers for their younger daughter.
Agarwal and her family just moved to Syracuse in August, so she wasn't well known throughout the school. Students in her class took home a sealed letter earlier this week. Birnkrant says it was sealed so parents could talk about death and loss with the students first, before the school. Social workers did come into the classroom the next day to talk with students.
Birnkrant says the school also used the moment to talk with students about safety when riding in a car. She says students and teachers discussed why seatbelts and car seats are so important, and the safety of sitting in the back seat instead of the front.
Agarwal was buried in Orlando within the Indian tradition. So far there are no plans for a memorial here in Syracuse, but the family has not returned to the area yet.
