On September 2 at 2:30am a 15 year old male died in a car accident. 

     It has been said that the 15-year-old male was going at a high rate of speed, failed to complete a right turn resulting in death at the scene. That young male was later identified as Kyle Knowles. Kyle was a student attending Sedro-Woolley High School. 

According to GoSkagit.com, “The vehicle left the roadway to the right, ran over a curb, and went through a parking lot and into a tree.”

His family and friends, grieving, came together as an idea was born to create  a memorial at the Sedro-Woolley skatepark, a place where Kyle spent most of his days. 

Ashton Sather senior at Sedro-Woolley High School, a friend of his, came up with the idea. 

“I wanted something everyone could have after the tree was taken down,” he said. 

Sather wants to spray paint the back of the bathrooms at the skatepark, something that would represent Kyle. He said that he would like to have a picture of Kyle either skating, or a picture of him and his skateboard.

Kerri Carlton, Sedro-Woolley High School Principal, spoke on how she is helping students that are struggling with the death and where they can go to if they are struggling. 

“Whenever there is a death in the student body, you don’t recover,” said Carlton  “We move on, but there is always a feeling of loss, and it’s so tragic. I wish we could turn back the clock, and say, ‘hey Kyle, be really safe on your drive.’”

“When we experience a loss as a student body, it’s really impact we create a safe space for students to process and grieve, and share how they are feeling,” said Carlton. “First thing we do is contact the family, and make him very appreciative of the school reaching out.”

 Alyssa Otis, a friend of his who skateboarded with him, was especially impacted by his passing.

“Kyle, he is like a little brother to me, even though we weren’t as close as I wished you would be, he was like a little brother I never had. I want a memorial for Kyle because the skatepark was like his second home.’’ said Alyssa Otis, a friend of Kyle and junior at Sedro-Woolley High School.

We all hope that Kyler gets a memorial at the skate park because he was so kind, caring, and fun to everyone. The skate park was Kyler’s home away from home and made lots of friends there. Kyle deserves a memorial because he lost his life too young. I also believe that making a memorial will show young kids and adults that it is okay to ask for help when needed so tragic things like what happened to Kyle don’t happen to anyone else.