Headlines
February 26, 2007
Girl, 9, dies after collapsing on school playground
By BRIAN NEWSOME, THE GAZETTE
A fourth-grader at a northeast Colorado Springs elementary school died Friday after collapsing on the playground during recess.
Kristen Cornell, 9, a student at Stetson Elementary School in Falcon School District 49, was taken to Memorial Hospital, where she later died, the El Paso County Coroner’s Office said. A cause of death is expected later this week.
The school district dispatched a group of counselors, psychologists, nurses and social workers to the school today to provide counseling, said Eric Paugh, D-49’s elementary learning services specialist. A letter was being sent out to parents, and the district posted a brief notice of the girl’s death on its Web site.
Paugh, a former elementary school principal, said elementary schools are like families and that a student’s death hits staff and peers especially hard.
“They’re very close to each other,” he said.
Students today were writing letters and drawing pictures for Cornell’s family.
CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0198 or bnewsome@gazette.com
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