Classes canceled in Bullhead City after teacher dies in traffic accident

Extra counselors will be on hand today as classes resume at Mohave High School in Bullhead City, Ariz., after the death of a popular teacher who would have been 30 years old Saturday.

Principal Michael Lueck sent 1,500 students and 125 employees home Thursday morning to help them handle their grief over the death of Valerie Palermo.

Fort Mojave Tribal Police Sgt. Sonny O'Hara said Palermo, who lived in Fort Mohave , was critically injured in a single-vehicle traffic accident at 1:55 a.m. Thursday on the reservation.

Palermo died after being taken to a hospital, and 32-year-old Robert Day of Mohave Valley suffered serious injuries after losing control of the vehicle he was driving just east of a Colorado River bridge near Aztec Road.

Day was transported to Las Vegas, where he was listed in fair condition at University Medical Center.

The cause of the accident remained under investigation.

It was the second traffic death of a Mohave High teacher in 16 months, Lueck said, and that heightened the grief evident on campus Thursday.

He said Palermo was a gifted math instructor who will be missed.

"She was a highly regarded teacher and a most loved human being. The kids loved her and the faculty loved her."