The small Alberta community of St. Paul is pulling together to offer one another support, just days after a minivan crashed into a Grade 6 classroom, killing one young girl and seriously injuring two others.

The flags at Racette Jr. High School in St. Paul were lowered at half-mast on Sunday and special prayers were offered during a mass at the St. Paul Cathedral.

“We prayed for the students affected by the tragedy at Racette School and for the families and everyone involved,” said Father Gerard Gauthier.

“I assume every parish from Whitecourt to McMurray to St. Paul, all prayed for this intention.”

“We prayed for the students affected by the tragedy at Racette School and for the families and everyone involved.”

Eight students were injured after a minivan crashed into a Grade 6 classroom at Racette Jr. High School on Thursday.

One of those students, 11-year-old Megan Wolitski, died of her injuries in hospital on Friday.

Two other young girls suffered from serious injuries and remain in hospital.

“It’s hard to imagine what they’re going through, especially the parents of Megan who passed,” said St. Paul resident Lorraine Jubinville, whose daughter danced with Megan.

“It’s not easy for anybody in the community, you know the teachers, anybody.”

There were few dry eyes in church when the special prayers for Megan, the two other young girls and their families, were given by the school principal.

“It’s terrible. I don’t know why it happened,” said Eva Kotowich, whose daughter is the school principal.

“I just have no words for it.”

“Sitting in church was very sombre,” Jubinville said.

“It was quiet. You know it wasn’t the same joy that you get when you go to church. You can kind of hear the people sobbing and it’s sad.”

Gauthier says support is key to help the community get through the next few days and weeks.

“There’s an expression that when joy is shared, it’s doubled. When sorrow is shared, it’s cut in half. And so by sharing with someone in their sorrow, sitting with them, being with them, letting them know that they’re not alone, it makes all the difference in the world,” he said.

“For everybody is hurting, they are not alone in that hurt.”

There will be no classes at Racette Jr. High School on Monday.

A trust fund is in the works for all three girls and more details of how to donate are expected in the coming days.

Meanwhile the driver of the minivan, Richard Edward Benson, 46, who is charged with dangerous driving causing bodily harm, resisting arrest and possession of a controlled substance, is expected to appear in St. Paul court on Monday.

With files from Amanda Anderson