By ROBIN SHANNON

Staff Reporter

RESERVE — Students, teachers, family, friends and St. John Parish School administrators came together on a clear and cool Thursday morning to pay tribute to a young girl who was simply described as an angel called back to heaven.

In a memorial service full of fond memories and lots of tears, the community gathered in the courtyard of Fifth Ward Elementary School to honor the life of 10-year-old Jasmine Green. The fifth grader was tragically killed Monday morning as she ran to catch the school bus that, family members say, would have taken her to the place she loved the most.

“Jasmine loved this school,” said Tameki Green, Jasmine’s mother. “She would be so delighted to see all her friends and family joined together in celebration.”

Faculty and staff at the school took turns throughout the service to share thoughts and kind words starting with the school’s Principal Kendria Spears, who stressed that the students should always remember the good things about Jasmine, “the flower missing from the school’s beautiful bouquet.”

“When you make that ‘A’ in class, remember that Jasmine is looking down on you and smiling,” said Spears to the students. “Remember that smile that could light up a room.”

Assistant Principal Marsh Fontenot said she hopes that the students take the tragic event as a reminder of how important they are to their family and their community.

“If there is one child who wakes up and realizes they have a strong potential to do great things in this world, then Jasmine’s life and death would not have been in vain,” said Fontenot. “I ask that the kids at Fifth Ward stand up and be that role model that Jasmine was.”

St. John Parish School Superintendant Dr. Courtney Millet also provided some words of encouragement to the students and faculty in attendance through a short poem written in honor of the “little princess.”

“Jasmine was more than you or me,” read Millet. “Because an angel is what she was truly meant to be.”

That “cherub-esque” sentiment was echoed by Jasmine’s fifth grade teacher Iesha Taylor, who called Jasmine “an angel in disguise” watching her every move with those “pretty brown eyes.”

Bonnie Dinvaut-Irving, Jasmine’s kindergarten teacher, remembered Jasmine as one of her favorites — not only because she was smart, but also because she was “such a terrific kid.”

“She was a member of the family,” said Dinvaut-Irving.

In a short but emotional speech to the assembled crowd, St. John Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Maj. Mike Tregre referenced a handful of tragedies that have plagued the St. John community in the past year, including the fatal boat accident on Blind River in August that claimed the lives of five boys and a fatal fire in Reserve in September that killed two toddlers. He said that this community has the uncanny ability to come together to support in times of loss.

“Someone said it takes a village to raise a child,” said Tregre. “When tragedy happens, something always comes out good. It is up to us to stand up and make sure this accident does not go unnoticed. I can tell you that this village isn’t going anywhere.”

Various members of the St. John Parish School Board were also in attendance at the ceremony and many of them were extremely impressed by the behavior and reactions of the Fifth Ward Students.

“I think these kids understood the magnitude of what happened,” said District 8 Board Member Russ Wise. “It was a very touching ceremony.”

The memorial concluded with a lighting of 10 candles and a release of 10 pink balloons, one for each year of Jasmine’s life.

Following the memorial, Temeki Green stayed behind to embrace her daughter’s fifth grade peers. Green stayed very composed throughout the memorial.

“I have confidence in that I said ‘I love you’ to Jasmine everyday,” said Green. “This was not a goodbye. It’s not goodbye until she leaves.”