SCRANTON — The sharing of poems and prayers April 26 drew tears from those even as they spoke and sang at Scranton Elementary School STEAM Academy in a final act of catharsis for classmates, friends and family of the late Brentlee Crump.
Crump, 11, died April 17 as the victim of an accidental shooting in Scranton. After the incident, Principal Jami Kirby brought all of his classmates together for an hour to simply grieve.
“That was probably the hardest day that I’ve ever had in education,” Kirby said.
Extra counselors were available whenever any students needed it the day after the incident.
“We just kind of spent about an hour just loving each other,” Kirby said.
Several kids later in the day approached her with an idea, a way to honor and remember Crump, who on Fridays would help hand out bags with food to kids who might need a meal over the weekend.
They wanted to release balloons in his honor.
And so 11 balloons, a mix of red and blue, his favorite colors, took to the skies from the hands of his classmates alongside bubbles blown from the crowd. They rose from a full parking lot with some trucks and cars parking on the grass where a large crowd gathered. Most wore a red ribbon, and all wore some shade of blue or red.
Crump’s family watched behind the group gathered on the circular green space beneath the wreath of red and blue balloons.
Kirby said Crump was always smiling, always wondering how to help and quick to make friends. He however, did keep the staff on their toes.
“Last conversation I had with him he came in my office, unprompted, walked through, and I said ‘Brentlee, I like your haircut’ and he’s like, ‘Thank you, Miss Kirby’ and walked out. I don’t even really know why he was in my office at that time, but that’s just who he was.”
Kereka Williams, Crump’s homeroom teacher, said the last conversation she had with him was when he was trying to convince her why he should be student of the month.
He was getting good grades, staying out of trouble and performing admirably in his leadership duties, including his favorite, handing out the Friday bags.
“He made some compelling points,” Williams said. She wore a shirt with a picture of Crump on it that said “Long live Brentlee Crump.”
Britney Washington, another teacher, said his competitive spirit ranged from challenging fellow students to test their math knowledge or hitting balls far in Wiffle ball.
“We are better teachers, better parents and overall better people for having the privilege to know him,” Washington said, who wore a similar shirt to Williams.
That competitive nature also showed during Crump’s time on the Coward 11 through 12 baseball team, which is helped coached by assistant coach Jerry Smith.
Crump was the usual leadoff batter and would always get on base. Smith said he played with 110 percent of what he had, even if sometimes he did mess with the coaches by saying he’d rather be fishing one time at practice.
“He played with a lot of character, a lot of moxie, a lot of grit,” Smith said.
The team will continue its season and hold a memorial in Crump’s honor at the end. He also said there are plans to rename the last field Crump played at in Coward after him.
Despite the tears from the crowd and some students, one student made a call in his poem for people not to cry because Crump was gone, but to smile because they got to know him and be with him.
