School mourns teacher killed in crash

GRANBY - Of all the weekly video announcements multimedia teacher Wes Bernstein has made at Middle Park High School, Thursday morning's was the most difficult.

"I put that video together last night. I did it just as a way to say goodbye to a friend of mine," said Bernstein.

That friend was Amy Gallagher, an English teacher and assistant cross country coach who was killed in a head-on car accident along an icy and snow packed stretch of Highway 9 between Silverthorne and Kremmling Wednesday morning.

"She was a year younger than I, she was just 26," said Bernstein.

Gallagher, originally from Florida, had only been teaching in Granby since August, but in that short time, fellow teachers say she made a lasting impact on students.

Principle Dale Fleming says in the wake of losing a teacher, some young students had to learn one of the most difficult lessons of all, how to grieve.

"These life lessons you have to deal with and roll with and our kids are really resilient," said Fleming.

In Gallagher's classroom, her desk is covered several inches deep with flowers, and all over the small school there are banners, each nearly full with personal messages and poems.

"Each one of the classes, they are remembering the good times and the good things and the positive memories that they have," said Fleming.

The driver of the other car was taken to Saint Anthony Central in Denver and is recovering. The Colorado State Patrol says both drivers were wearing seatbelts.

Because Gallagher's funeral service will be in Florida, an informal service will be held on Sunday at Middle Park High School. It will start at 2 p.m. in the auditorium.