PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A Delaware County community is in mourning after two young boys were hit and killed by an Amtrak train last weekend.
Days after the deaths of 9-year-old Jahaad Atkinson and 12-year-old Ahyir Womack, Chester Community Charter School CEO Dr. David Clark Jr. is still visibly shaken up.
“I’ve been in the business 35 years, and I never, never had to experience anything like that.”
Clark says Womack was a student there until he was in sixth grade, and Atkinson was a current third grader at the school whose presence is sorely missed in their hallways.
“Very respectful child, very good kid, and I could see that when I went to the household and saw the mother and father interacting with their other children who were there.”
He says it’s been a tough week for their school community, but resources are available to those who need them.
“We have councilors in every building,” Clark explained. “They’ve been working with our students and helping our students. We also have an employee assistance program because staff are affected by this tragedy.
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Clark says the boys' deaths shine a light on a larger problem for Chester’s youth, which is why they are also working to establish more out-of-school programs that will give kids productive things to do and keep them out of harm's way.
“It just makes me understand the need for more activities for our children to do. When they hang out on railroad tracks, that tells me there should be something else for them to do.”
The boys were struck by an Amtrack train near the 400 block of Wilson Street Saturday afternoon. There is a vigil planned for them on Friday, May 5, at 7 p.m. at Chester’s Memorial Park.
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