Four red heart balloons tied to a bench at Harrison High School swayed in the pre-storm wind Monday afternoon.
Each had a word on it. “Go. Go. Spread. Positivity.”
They were put there by friends of Joelle Dalgleish, the Cobb County sophomore who died Sunday morning after a tree fell on her hammock while on a birthday camping trip Friday at Red Top Mountain State Park in Bartow County.
With her friend in the hospital, Emily Kelly wanted to express her love for Joelle, so she posted a photo to Instagram of them at SunTrust Park with a simple, loving caption:
“When you say you love me, know I love you more. ❤️❤️❤️❤️”
After friends commented on the post with four red hearts, “I realized that this should be a way to unify our school and bring everyone together,” Emily said.
Credit: Ben Brasch/AJC
Credit: Ben Brasch/AJC
The red heart balloons knocked against each other Monday afternoon as Joelle’s cross country coaches Kent Simmons and Jason Scott spoke about her outside the school.
“Joelle brightened the lives of everyone she encountered. She laughed easily and made friends easily. She was fun, sweet, goofy and curious. We are blessed to have been a part of her life and to have had her in our lives,” Simmons said.
He described the mood at Harrison as “pretty somber.”
The sorrow of Joelle’s death reached the five miles to Lewis Elementary School where her mother is a third-grade teacher.
The Cobb County School District had grief counselors at both schools Monday helping students and staff cope.
“It’s been very difficult. It hurts. As teachers and as coaches, we see these kids as our own kids in a lot of ways. So it’s very difficult,” Simmons said.
The school planned a candlelight vigil and balloon release on the football field at 8 p.m. Monday, which Joelle’s parents will be attending.
“The community of Harrison High School is bigger than one moment. We as a community will help the family get through,” Scott said.
Simmons remembers meeting Joelle for the first time. She instructed him on how to say her last name. Dalgleish — almost like dog and leash, he said with a chuckle. He admitted to mispronouncing it many times after that.
Joelle’s friend Emily remembers meeting her, too.
They sat next to each other in marketing and AP European history classes and “stuck by each other ever since. We clicked really easy,” she said.
In the five months after, they grew close.
“She’s the most positive person I've ever encountered,” the teen said.
That positivity was on display in a video that Joelle made in January which another friend tweeted out Sunday — including four red hearts.
“I guess I just kind of want to tell you about myself,” she starts the video.
In it, Joelle talks about how she thinks everything in life is connected and pre-determined.
“I strive so hard to be a good person, to be nice to everyone, to not judge people for any choice they make or anything they do because that’s the kind of person I want to be,” she says.
She goes on to say that she tries really, really hard to get out of her comfort zone and make sure she’s on her own path. The 15-year-old says it took her “a really long time” to realize it’s OK to make mistakes.
The background images of her goofing around with friends, paddleboarding and on a makeshift swing are interspersed with her talking to the camera.
“Life is so short, it’s so much more than high school or college or a job.”
Arrangements:
Visitation will be Wednesday from 5 to 8 p.m. at West Cobb Funeral Home, 2480 Macland Road in Marietta.
There will be a celebration of life ceremony at 6 p.m. Thursday at North Metro Church, 2305 Ernest W. Barrett Parkway.
About the Author
