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Teacher killed in Monday crash

By Erin Thompson 2 min read

LEWISTOWN -- Mifflin County Junior High School will remember Harry Aultz as an "outstanding" and "dynamic" teacher who left a positive impact on students and faculty every single day.

Aultz, a social studies teacher and football coach, was killed as a result of a two-vehicle crash that occurred about 6:45 p.m. Monday on Hoss Drive in Lewistown.

Mifflin County School District had extra counselors and psychologists on hand Tuesday to work with staff and students in the building.

According to Mifflin County Junior High School Principal Angela Pollock, teachers were also "vigilant" and "watching for signs that students may need to talk to someone."

Pollock said the entire school is grieving at the loss of Aultz, who had been a teacher with the district for a bit more than 20 years.

"We're struggling here today," she said. "The junior high is a really tight school. The faculty is really tight. We have each other and we're relying on each other to get through this."

Pollock said Aultz was a father and a husband and would often talk about his wife and kids.

"Harry always had a smile on his face," she said. "He loved the subject of social studies, but he loved his students more and he loved sharing the love of social studies with them."

Football coach Scot Sechler said, "Harry was a phenomenal person. He cared very deeply about kids, both the athletes and in the classroom. He always had positive things to say and he was a tremendous human being. He is definitely going to be missed."

Mifflin County School District Director of Secondary Education Vance Varner said Aultz' death is a tragedy for students and staff of the district, past, present and future.

"He is a person who has an impact every single day in that building in a positive manner. We lost someone special last night … he was a great teacher. A great, caring individual, a caring coach. He was pro-student. He was teaching for the right reasons -- because he loved kids."

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