CHESTERFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A teacher was killed Tuesday evening in a six-vehicle crash on eastbound I-94 before the 23 Mile Road exit in Chesterfield Township.
The crash happened before 6 p.m., according to police. Witnesses report the rush-hour traffic slowed to merge onto the exit ramp and the vehicles involved in the crash were struck by a semi truck. Several vehicles burned due to the crash.
The truck driver was a 38-year-old Caseville man. He and four other drivers suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
A local teacher, Jaclyn Marie Scott, 34, of Chesterfield Township, was killed in the crash.
Scott's family did not want to go on camera but did tell Local 4 that teaching was her passion. Those who knew Scott said she had a knack for connecting with students.
Jill Pursell is a parent of one of Scott's students.
"I just want her family to know how beautiful she was and how much of a difference she was making with all the kids," she said. "My heart hurts for the kids and just that she was new to the program and all the plans."
For her seven-year-old daughter there are no words to describe such a loss, only tears.
Arryn Schneider is the principal of Woodland Elementary, where Scott worked. She is trying to comfort the students and staff members as best she can.
"We began working on what our plan would be to make sure our teachers, our staff and our kids," Schneider said. "She asked great questions to elicit these ideas from kids that stretched their thinking and sometimes challenged their thinking."
The people who love Jaclyn Scott don't want to focus on how she passed. Instead they want to remember her for how she lived.