Those close to Haley Battles say they will both miss and remember her ability to spread joy.
“Haley was always smiling and laughing — the way we will remember her,” said Ashley Garner, an 11th-grader at Armuchee High School. “I know she is in a good place now, smiling and laughing.”
Haley was a sophomore tech student studying health care sciences part-time at Floyd County Technical High.
On her way back to Armuchee High School on Tuesday from FCTH, Haley was involved in a two-car accident and later died from her injuries. The Georgia State Patrol indicated she was wearing her seat belt.
Jessica Brannon, a 10th-grader at Armuchee High who was driving the car in which Haley was a passenger, was treated and released from Redmond Regional Medical Center, hospital officials said.
Armuchee High principal James Burris said a number of the students were having a hard time coping with the death of their classmate.
“This is a small community, and ... we’ve shut down the library except for the counselors who (were) here all day helping,” Burris said Wednesday. “She was a real sweet girl with a smile anytime I saw her.”
Strolling through the halls of the school, students were visibly upset, but many of them found ways to cope through talking to the counselors, hugs and tears, but several found an artistic outlet by creating memorial banners to be signed and hung in the school.
“While I didn’t teach the two students, they (other students) wanted a therapeutic outlet and wanted to make banners,” said Michaele Flynn, art teacher at the school.
Other students just wanted to talk about what they remembered. Kearstin Thacker, a 10th-grader, said Haley touched everybody’s lives at the school.
Students Kelli Touchstone and Bryna Ely recalled Haley’s ability to make others laugh.
“Haley touched so many lives. She always knew what to say when I was having a bad day,” said Bryna. “(She) had a smile that lit up the room, and we are all going to miss that.”
Even though she was only at the technical school part-time, Haley left an impression with instructors.
“Haley Battles has been a dynamic part of my classroom. She was very full of life,” said Sandra Warren, a healthcare science instructor. “There was a void in my classroom today ... which will be felt even more ... the day Haley (was to) come to my class. She was a very special child and will be missed by all of us.”
Warren said today’s class at the tech school will do a balloon release in Haley’s memory at 9 a.m. outside the school, 100 Vocation Drive.
The Church at Northside, 75 N. Floyd Park Road, is also collecting donations at the church, or through the mail at P.O. Box 838, Armuchee, GA 30165, to help offset the funeral costs, said Josh Roberts, student pastor at the family’s church.
“She was a fireball, a lot of fun — just a beautiful outgoing girl full of life,” said Roberts, who spent the day with the family Wednesday.
Funeral services will be held Friday at 1 p.m. at The Church at Northside.
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