A totaled red Jeep. Debris. An ambulance, a resource officer and two tow trucks.This is what students and faculty observed on the last day of finals after the bell rang.

Before winter break on the last day of the semester, sophomore Garrett Hodge and art teacher Rachel Downs got in a wreck in the parking lot after school. Downs was backing out from the staff parking lot on the east side of the building when Hodge, who was in line to get out, rear-ended her.

“He turned my car 180 degrees, “ Downs said. “My glasses flew off of my face, 15 feet outside of the car through the back windshield.”

Resource Officer Ty Scheibler was called to the scene to fill out an accident report.

According to the accident report, there were no skid marks on the pavement to prove that Hodge had tried to stop.

“He was going too fast to stop,” sophomore Tucker Click said,who was in the car behind Hodge.

However, no one knows how fast Hodge was actually going.

Although the accident totaled both cars, those involved suffered only minor injuries. Hodge had a swollen lip, but refused medical treatment. Downs complained of a sore neck and back and was taken to Lawrence Memorial Hospital in an ambulance.

“I have to go to physical therapy twice a week, “ Downs said. “I had to wear a neck brace for 12 days.”

Downs’s parents came up from Wichita to help take care of her over break.

Hard feelings aside, Hodge believes he made a mistake.

“It was a bad situation to be in on the last day of school before break,” Hodge said. “I wasn’t paying attention that well, and it was a stupid mistake.”

Hodge offered advice for others in his situation.

“I would say keep calm because lashing out and blaming other people is just going to make it worse,” Hodge said.