Bradenton students remember classmates killed in Peru

BRADENTON, Fla. (FOX 13) - Students and teachers at Southeast High School in Bradenton held a private memorial Tuesday for graduating seniors Albert Ales and Zachary Morris. 

The two 18-year-olds were killed last week shortly after arriving in Peru for a graduation adventure. Their motorbike collided with a public bus.

“My students are just torn apart. These two young men had an impact on our campus,” principal Rosa Faison said at a news conference outside the school.

Some teachers and students wore Hawaiian-style shirts because Albert began the school’s “Floral Friday” tradition.

“These were incredible young men that could have made a big difference, not just in our community, but in the world itself. And I believe they would have,” said Cheri Greenhalgh, a teacher at Southeast High.

Both boys were involved in a project making wooden toys for soldiers to give to children in Afghanistan.

“We have a group of very emotional students who lost two friends and it’s something parents shouldn’t have to do and teenagers shouldn’t have to do,” added Nan Sisemore, a teacher at Southeast High.

Balloons were released from inside the school grounds as part of today’s memorial. 

The families of the boys have requested privacy.