GWINNETT	THURSDAY • March 21, 2002

Mourned teen 'brought a lot of sunshine'
Beth Warren and John Ghirardini - Staff
Thursday, March 21, 2002

A teen band practice at Buford's Prince of Peace Catholic Church turned into an impromptu memorial service Tuesday night for 17-year-old Jenny Marie Melton.

The 80 teens --- many of them members of the church's Life Teen Program --- were "just devastated," said Gloria Whidby, the church's youth minister. "They've lost a great friend."

Melton, the reigning homecoming queen at West Hall High School, was killed early Tuesday while en route to school.

At her church and school, the Flowery Branch teen was known for reaching out to others with a kind word or a smile, friends and officials said Wednesday.

"She was a giver," said Jackie Adams, assistant principal at the Oakwood school. "I've never known a more special young person."

Several students at West Hall High brought in their favorite photographs of Melton on Wednesday, Adams said. Others shared poems written in her honor.

"I've talked to students and teachers, and we've decided we had an angel among us, and we were very blessed to have had time with her," Adams said. "She touched all of our lives."

At Prince of Peace, Melton recently spoke to younger children about how difficult it can be to resist peer pressure, Whidby said.

"She said to just take one day at a time and just pray for the strength daily --- to dig deep inside you because the rresources are there," Whidby said. "She said: 'Make a difference.' And that's exactly what she did."

Melton's car slammed into a utility pole as she was driving eastbound on Jim Crow Road near Conner Road about 8:15 a.m. Tuesday.

The right wheels of her 2000 Volkswagen Jetta ran off the right side of the road, Georgia State Patrol operator Donna Garrett said.

Melton tried to get back on the road, and when she did, her Jetta crossed over the westbound lane, skidded more than 158 feet and hit the pole. She was pronounced dead at Northeast Georgia Medical Center.

Melton was alone in the car and was wearing a seat belt, Garrett said.

Hers was the second major car accident in two days involving a Hall County teen.

On Monday evening, North Hall High School senior Joey Clarke was critically injured in another single-vehicle accident. The accident happened on Brett Whitmire Road. He was in critical condition at Atlanta Medical Center.

At West Hall, most parents checked their children out of school on Tuesday.

The mood at the school was somber Wednesday.

"It's a little better today than yesterday," said counselor Terri Ryan. "It was a total shock."

Ryan described Melton as a very "well-rounded" student.

She was "just one of those wonderful young ladies who everyone was attracted to," assistant principal Larry Parker said. "She didn't have anyone who didn't like her. She was always smiling."

Parker said Melton was a "straight-A" student. She had already been accepted to the University of Georgia and had also applied to Duke University, he said.

"She had talked about teaching. She wanted to work with kids," Parker said. "She brought a lot of sunshine to everyone here."

Melton was a member of the Beta Club, the National Honor Society and the girls' track team at her school in Oakwood. She recently won the Good Citizens program sponsored by the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Her funeral will be at 2 p.m. Friday at Prince of Peace Catholic Church in Buford.