Newton Marks Oak Hill Middle School Bus Tragedy, 20 Years Later

NEWTON, MA — If they had lived, they would be in their 30s today. Some would likely be married with their own children by now. But 20 years ago this week four students from Oak Hill Middle School were killed and dozens injured in a crash that devastated the close-knit school.

The tragedy has never been far from the surface in Newton. Each year the school community meets to remember the four and other Newton faces who have been lost to tragedy. But on Tuesday, they came together virtually to mark the 20th anniversary of a day that shook the city.

The bus was heading to Nova Scotia when it missed a turn and flipped, killing 12-year-old Stephen "Stevie" Glidden, 13-year-olds Gregory Wai Chan and Kayla Rosenberg and 14-year-old Melissa Leung.

The following morning, teachers were called into the school early. Many had seen the news and knew the bus had crashed, remembered Physical Education teacher Krystyna Chmilinski, who was a new teacher at the time.

She said they were ushered into the gym and someone told her "just be with the kids."

She said they all sat together holding and hugging and crying with one another, wondering what had happened.

"These children were destroyed," she said. "That day changed me."

Nicki Ramshaw had been a teacher's aid the year before at Oak Hill Middle School and was still in college. She said she was listening to music when she saw the children's faces flash across the TV screen. Her first thought was a happy one, because she assumed that they had all won awards, she said.

"These kids were all so positive," she said, she couldn't fathom anything else.

Parents of the children in the crash described what it was like in the days following, and many agreed it was hard to believe 20 years had passed.

"It's the blink of an eye and eternity at the same time," said Elaine Alpert, whose son Stevie died in the crash. "We feel rawness, and we also feel familiarity."

Alpert said she spent the past 20 years working to understand the details of the crash, how it happened, how experts told her that the children's deaths were instant.

"I understand it all, but it doesn't make sense," she said. "After 20 years what does make sense is this: We are all stronger and more resilient in times of trouble when we come together as a community. And that I think this is our children's legacy. "

Watch the remembrance: