Heroic Principal Gives Her Life for Her Students

The Bible says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11)

In this case, the sheep were two beloved students, and Indiana elementary school principal Susan Jordan did indeed give her own life for them this past Tuesday when she pushed them out of the path of an oncoming school bus before she was struck and killed.

Medics rushed the two 10-year-old students to Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health in Indianapolis, Indiana. They were in serious, but stable condition. The bus that struck them carried 25 students who were not injured, officials said.

Administrators struggled with their grief as emergency crews worked on the scene, condoning off the bus in the yellow tape that so often surrounds the site of sudden, inexplicable tragedy. Parents and children held tight to each other and cried, stunned by the sudden turn of events.

[lz_jwplayer video=”QYhbFUf8″ ads=”true”]

The bus that struck and killed Jordan jumped the curb as the principal was walking the two students to their buses at about 2:45 p.m. Tuesday. The bus driver told firefighters she wasn’t sure why the bus lurched forward, but she did see Jordan push several students out of the way, Rita Reith of the Indianapolis Fire Department told CNN.

“They just loved her,” the bus driver said. “Up to the minute she was alive, she was helping the kids.”

Jordan, 69, was the principal at Amy Beverland Elementary School in the Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township on the northeastern side of Indianapolis. She had been there for 22 years and was beloved by students, parents and staff.

One father, Adam Baker, even moved his family to Lawrence Township because of Jordan.

“It was for all the good things we heard about Principal Jordan and all the good things going on (there),” he told CNN.com.

The School Board released a statement praising Jordan and everything she meant to her community.

[lz_related_box id=”67821″]

“Susan was an amazing educator. She had a remarkable way of making everyone she came into contact with feel valued and important,” it read.

“She is everything I want to be when I grow up,” an adult woman said in a video tribute the school prepared for their beloved principal last May. “She’s kind. She’s caring. She’s compassionate. She’s loving. She’s sincere, and she’s a professional. She makes all of us want to be even better.”

“Quite frankly, ladies and gentlemen, we are talking about a legend,” Shawn A. Smith, superintendent of the Lawrence Township Schools, said of Jordan at a news conference at the school.

“I feel sad because of the kids,” one little student, age 6, told IndyStar.com. She had not yet been informed that her principal had died. “It will hurt your feelings because kids are on the bus and the people get crashed.”

[lz_ndn video= 30265021]

Another Bible verse that seems uniquely intended for sudden loss brings hope.

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18).

For the Amy Beverland Elementary School community, faith will be called on during the trying hours, days and weeks to come, as they move forward without their much-loved hero.