Students, friends honor Amy Beverland principal
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Students paid their respect Friday night to Susan Jordan, the principal who died pushing kids out of the way of a moving school bus.
They gathered, along with Jordan’s friends, family and coworkers, for a visitation at St. Luke’s church.
The John family didn’t bring flowers for their late principal. They didn’t bring photos.
They brought a Build-A-Bear that plays a recorded message from Jordan: “Think to yourself: I can do it.”
It’s a gift from the Johns to the Jordans, because Susan Jordan shared so many gifts with Amy Beverland Elementary students over the years.
“She signed a birthday card and gave me a birthday pencil,” Amy Beverland student Devin Strecker said. “I finished the day off feeling that I could do anything because I was feeling great.”
“She always wanted children to remember that they could be leaders and they could anything they put their mind to,” Devin’s mother, Karen Strecker-John said.
Some others did bring flowers and some brought hugs.
Susan Brash Hintz brought memories. She hired Jordan 28 years ago, but Hintz said Jordan was more than a coworkers; she was a close friend.
“I’m ready to celebrate her life and legacy because tis significant and phenomenal. It’s life changing. I’m thanking for her.”
Students are celebrating that legacy with a memorial at the elementary school. But Strecker-John wants to take it a step farther.
She said Amy Beverland should be renamed: Susan Jordan Elementary.
“If we could just keep her goodness alive in that way, it’s better than a tree, it’s better than a bench somewhere in a park. It’s the embodiment of what she is,” Strecker-John said.
Jordan’s funeral will be held Saturday at St. Luke’s at 3 p.m.