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Two deaths bring counselors to Ashland High ASHLAND - Grief counselors were dispatched to Ashland High School Monday to help students and staff cope with the sudden weekend deaths of a popular football coach and a 16-year-old girl whose brother was killed in 1994 by a drunken driver. "We had a pretty tough day over there today," said Juli Di Chiro, superintendent of Ashland schools. Leland Russell "Russ" Cooley, a recently retired economics teacher and assistant football coach, died Saturday at Ashland Community Hospital following complications after an operation, friends said. Cooley, who had taught in the district for three decades, was 54. Ashland police are assisting the state medical examiner in an investigation of the death Sunday of the 16-year-old girl, Lt. Rich Walsh said. He declined to identify the girl, but privately students, friends and staff identified her as SaraJoy Burnson, an outfielder on the school's varsity softball team. Cause of death for the girl has not been determined, Walsh said. Privately, sources indicated she was transported to Ashland Community Hospital around mid-day Sunday. SaraJoy Burnson is the younger sister of Adam Jasper Burnson, who died in 1994 at age 11. He was killed by a drunken driver who veered across the center line and struck the boy as he rode his bike home along Highway 66. A signalong Highway 66 erected by their parents, David and Katrina Burnson, serves as both a memorial to Adam and a warning of the tragic effects of drunken driving. Ashland students were subdued Monday, said Jody Bradley, an Ashland Middle School counselor who joined representatives from the WinterSpring Center for Living with Loss and Grief. Many students talked among themselves in small groups. Many others went home early, including several of SaraJoy's softball teammates, Di Chiro said. Counselors, teachers and student leaders called Natural Helpers will continue to watch for students particularly affected by the losses. "Overall, Ashland High School did an exceptional job of coming together as a community," Di Chiro said. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.