NATCHEZ &045; The sudden death of 10-year-old Ryekeem Alexander has not only affected his family members but also his fellow classmates at McLaurin Elementary School.

Alexander was killed Sunday afternoon when he was struck by a car while riding his bicycle at the corner of Whites Lane and George West Boulevard. Police said the incident appears to have been an accident.

School officials did not learn about his death until Monday morning at school when they heard children talking about it in the halls. It was, however, something school officials immediately responded to once they found out.

School counselors immediately headed to his fourth grade classroom to tell his classmates what they knew of the accident and helped the children deal with the loss.

&uot;I wanted everybody to be aware of what had happened,&uot; Betty Sue Porter, McLaurin school counselor, said.

It was a &uot;time for us to sit, talkŠ whatever they felt like doing,&uot; she said. They talked &uot;about the feelings, the hurt, the loss.&uot;

And the counselors stayed in the room for about two hours.

All of the children dealt with the news in different ways, Porter said.

Some children cried, some wanted to go home and one boy wanted to say a prayer &045; and he did, Porter said.

Some wrote notes or drew pictures.

&uot;It was a caring little class yesterday (Monday),&uot; Porter said.

While Alexander had only been at the school since the beginning of the year, having attended Morgantown Elementary before, many students were upset. Porter said the school also called Morgantown to let officials know what had happened.

Porter said Tuesday was &uot;smooth,&uot; but the children in the class want to do something in memory of Alexander. The class is thinking about starting a &uot;memory bed&uot; in the flowerbed in front of the school, but no definite plans have been made.

Counselors, teachers and principals are just helping the students deal with the loss and express their feelings about it, she said.