SCOTT CITY TEEN DIES IN ACCIDENT: JESSICA ARNZEN IS THROWN FROM CAR ON WAY TO SCHOOL

SCOTT CITY, Mo. -- At least half of Scott City High School's 333 students left classes Tuesday after learning a popular 17-year-old senior died in a one-car accident on her way to school.

Everyone in school knew Jessica Arnzen, which made her death harder to handle, principal Fred Graham said. Graham allowed students to go home for the day.

"When we announced it this morning, we had kids crying everywhere," he said.

Arnzen was driving east on County Road 204 three miles west of Scott City at about 7:55 a.m., the Missouri State Highway Patrol reported. Her car went off the right side of the roadway, and when she tried to pull back onto the road, Arnzen overcorrected, drove off the left side and the car overturned. She was ejected from the car.

Arnzen was not wearing a seat belt. What might have happened to cause the accident is unclear because the portion of road she was driving on is straight, and the morning weather was fair.

Her father, Erv Arnzen, believes his daughter was "just too brave" and unaware of her own mortality.

Jessica seldom wore a seat belt, and if she had it likely would have saved her life, her father said. He thinks Jessica ran off the road while "digging around" for something.

He was among the first people to arrive at the scene of the accident.

"She was just way too brave," Arnzen said. "She didn't want to wear a seat belt. She'd already had a ticket, and we were on her case about it."

A public visitation is scheduled for today from 5 to 9 p.m. at the high school gymnasium. When classes meet on Thursday at 10 a.m. during Arnzen's funeral at St. Augustine Church in Kelso, Mo., no one will be found at fault for skipping school, Graham said.

Arnzen family ties run deep at the school. Arnzen's mother, Lana, teaches sixth grade, her brother, Craig, just started fifth grade and her father has donated his time working on the school's athletic fields.

As information about Arnzen's death traveled to other schools and communities, counselors and ministers from a number of towns offered to come to Scott City.

"We've been overwhelmed by the support," said Carol Powell, Scott City's junior-high and high-school counselor.

Although regularly scheduled classes continued Tuesday, students who stayed in school were allowed to leave classes to see counselors. Many students came to find out details of the accident, Powell said.

Some needed a pat on the shoulder or a hug, but counselors tried to allow students to sort out their emotions.

"There was one boy who said he just wanted to find a quiet place in the gym to sit and think and sort this out," Powell said.

A few teachers also left school early, but most remained.

"The teachers try to maintain a sense of normalcy as much as possible," Powell said.

It has been almost two years since the last Scott City High student died, said Shar Dodd, a high-school special-education teacher. Brian Halter, 16, a student in Dodd's class, died after two months of battling pneumonia.

But Brian's death was different from Arnzen's, Dodd said.

"All the kids in my class knew him," she said, "But the whole school knew her."

Classes will continue on their regular schedule, but extracurricular activities have been canceled, Graham said. Today's school board meeting was postponed until Tuesday because of Arnzen's death, said Roger Tatum, school superintendent.

ljohnston@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126