Superintendent: Mt. Pleasant will receive support following fatal accident

Following the tragic loss of a student at Mt. Pleasant High School, Maury County Public Schools Superintendent Michael Hickman said the school district’s leadership quickly mobilized to support the school, it students, faculty and the community.

Mt. Pleasant High School student Josiah Fisher, 17, succumbed to injuries after a "homemade motorcycle" he was riding crashed into a school building on Wednesday, Jan. 26.

More: Mt. Pleasant High 17-year-old student dies in 'homemade motorcycle' accident on campus

Following the collision, Fisher was transported by helicopter to Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, the school district confirmed.

In the wake of Fisher’s death, counselors were dispatched to the campus to assist students, staff and families in need at the school, according to the school district.

During this month’s school board meeting, Hickman said Lisa Ventura, the school district’s director of special populations and her staff mobilized quickly to support the school.

More: ‘Outpouring’ of support: Maury County rallies for family of student killed in accident

“Moments after it happened, they were getting the things they needed and sending people and support to the places that they needed to be sent,” Hickman said.

“They worked well into the night to make sure that the students and the staff were being supported. They made sure that we had people on the ground.”

Mt. Pleasant High School Principal Ryan Jackson shared that Giles County Sheriff Kyle Helton and Kirk Shepard, a leader at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, an interdenominational Christian sports ministry, spoke with students at the school this week.

Jackson said the two community leaders spoke to the students about processing and living through tragedy.

The principal said the two shared "powerful words rooted in powerful experiences of their own."

Hickman said the school district will continue to offer support to the community.

“We will continue to have people on the ground,” Hickman said. “They will be there until they deem it is no longer needed. That is how it happened.”

Members of the school board also offered support.

More: Mt. Pleasant teenager killed in accident laid to rest Sunday

“We greatly appreciate what was done in that tragic situation,” said Bettye Kinser, the school board’s vice chairman.

In the wake of Fisher’s death, the community called to support his loved ones raising more than $15,000 to help the family pay for the unexpected funeral costs.

Reach Mike Christen at mchristen@c-dh.net. Follow him on Twitter at @MikeChristenCDH and on Instagram at @michaelmarco. Please consider supporting his work and that of other Daily Herald journalists by subscribing to the publication.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: MCPS Superintendent: Mt. Pleasant will see following fatal accident