Since Dayton High School students learned of the death of former classmate Heather Teeter, it has seemed like a "there's this cloud sitting over the whole school," said senior Nick McQueen.
"It was like everybody lost a family member almost," he said. "It's really hard to even think about it."
Teeter, 18, died March 8 from a fatal single-car crash on Los Altos Parkway in Sparks.
Students planning to attend the 1 p.m. memorial service today at Walton's Chapel of the Valley in Carson City will be excused from classes, Dayton High School officials said.
Senior-class president Kim Yeoman served with Teeter in student council and plans to attend the service.
"Heather was such a compassionate person," Yeoman said. "She always made me feel very welcome. In student council, she always made an effort to get to know everybody and make them feel at home."
McQueen also plans to attend the memorial.
"I want to pay her respect and be able to let go," he said.
But he finds peace in her memory.
"Her whole aura was just so full of happiness, it wore off on other people," he said. "Just remembering her makes me happy. I can see that smile on her face.
"I never saw her in a bad mood."
Teeter was born Sept. 24, 1984, in Portsmouth, Va., to Mark Teeter and Gloria Hansen.
She graduated from Dayton High School last year. At Dayton High, she was a member of the National Honor Society, a cheerleader and pep rally commissioner.
Yeoman said Teeter was a natural at coordinating pep assemblies.
"It fit her personality perfectly," she said. "She was a cheerleader, very bubbly and outgoing. She would bring out the spirited side of everybody."
And she set an example for her peers.
"By her being a leader in student council, a lot of people looked up to her," McQueen said. "And she was a good person to look up to as a role model."
At the time of her death, Teeter was a University of Nevada, Reno, student and a waitress at Johnny Rockets at the Reno Hilton.
