School copes with loss of teacher

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY.com) - Counselors, psychologists and social workers were at Tanners Creek Elementary School in Norfolk, to help students and staff coping with the death of second-grader teacher Whitney Hulce.

Hulce was hit and killed while crossing Shore Drive in Virginia Beach early Sunday morning.

Fatal Crash Team investigators learned that she left a local bar in the 2900 block of Shore Drive around 1:30 a.m. when she was hit by a person driving a Chrysler 300.

According to police, Hulce died from severe head and internal injuries. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police tell WAVY.com the victim was not crossing in a controlled intersection or a crosswalk, and alcohol use by the victim may have been a factor in the crash.

An employee of a nearby 7-Eleven told WAVY.com a woman ran into the store, crying, saying her friend had just been hit by a car and needed help.

The employee said when she looked outside, the driver of the car had already called 911 and was waiting for police to arrive.

No charges will be filed against the driver of the Chrysler.

The principal of Tanners Creek, Kathleen Mein, notified staff members of Hulce's death on Sunday and visited with Hulce's family.

“She was a natural teacher,” Mein said. “It was just second nature to her.”

A letter will be sent home Monday with each of the 600 students asking parents to talk with their children about the loss, a school news release stated.

Karmal Mouton has a son who is in first grade at Tanners Creek.  She told WAVY.com, "We watched the news (Monday) morning and, you know, I talked to my son about it and he knew her.  You know, he said she was on the same hall as she was."

Mouton says she spoke with her son about what happened to Hulce.

"I just told him that it was an accident that had happened and the teacher had passed yesterday and that there would be grief counselors on the campus if he needed to talk to anybody about it."

One of those counselors is Bianca Gregory.

"We talk to them about grief, how it's a natural process.  It's really going to be tough because it's second graders and they understand the concept, but not totally understanding," she said.

"This is someone that's been in their life everyday since September, so it's going to be hard, but we're going to rally behind them and be there really to support them 150 percent."

Gregory explained the approach she and her fellow counselors will take with helping the elementary students deal with the loss of their teacher.

"We try not to give too many details, but give it to them in a way that they'll understand and just make them aware that we love her and we care about her and that we're really, really, really going to miss her."

Gregory said she worked with Whitney Hulce regularly.

"[Whitney was] very high energy, she loved her students, loved, loved, loved her students, gave 200 percent to them, very sweet, very kind, very loving. Words really can't describe right now, it's going to be extremely difficult especially for those who were most close to her on staff with her being a first year teacher. We have a mentorship program and they're going to be really, really, it's unbelievable right now."

So what are signs you should look for if your child is grieving when they come home from school?

"Sometimes they may act out. They may lash out. There may be some tearfulness. We're going to be sending home, especially for our second grade parents some things they need to be mindful of and aware of as children deal with grief in a variety of different ways and just know that it's difficult for them, especially her children in her class right now, it's going to be very difficult and just love them and rally behind them and just support them," says Bianca.

As for the incident that took Hulce's life, police say this is not the first time someone died crossing Shore Drive. In October of last year, a 21-year-old man was hit and killed in that very same stretch.

His death prompted the city to add several flashing pedestrian signs to the roadway in November. In that one and half mile section of Shore Drive, officials say there have been more than one hundred crashes in the past two years.

Be sure to stay with WAVY News 10 and WAVY.com for more on this developing story.