Aubrey Pappas The North Brunswick school community is mourning the loss a middle school teacher who was killed in a car accident last week.
Aubrey Fadule Pappas, 35, a teacher at Linwood Middle School and the wife of a North Brunswick police officer, died Oct. 8 after the 2013 Ford Edge she was driving on Deans Rhode Hall Road in South Brunswick left the road and struck a tree. The vehicle spun back into the roadway and caught fire following the collision, according to South Brunswick police Lt. James Ryan.
Police received several 911 calls reporting the accident around 1:55 p.m. The accident occurred about a quarter-mile west of the New Jersey Turnpike overpass.
Rescue personnel from the Monmouth Junction and Brookview fire companies, a South Brunswick EMS crew and paramedics responded to the accident.
Pappas was pronounced dead at the scene.
A team of investigators from the South Brunswick Police Department’s Traffic Safety Bureau has been working to determine what may have caused the vehicle to leave the roadway, police said.
“The team of investigators [has] not yet concluded what made the vehicle leave the roadway and strike the tree,” Ryan said on Monday. “Investigators were able to determine that Mrs. Pappas was not texting at the time of the crash. They have also determined that her vehicle was not part of any recall from the Ford company. Investigators will continue to piece together the events leading up to the crash and the conditions at the crash location.”
Pappas had just left Linwood Middle School in North Brunswick and was heading to her home in Monroe at the time of the crash, police said. She was due back at the school at 6:30 p.m. for parent-teacher conferences, according to Superintendent of Schools Brian Zychowski. Linwood Principal Brian Brotshul said Pappas had been a language arts teacher at the school since 2001.
“She is one of a few teachers who did the loop, teaching sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders,” he said. “To be able to do that is extraordinary. … She connected with the kids on all grade levels.”
Pappas was the founder and advisor of the film club at Linwood. Brotshul said many students from the club have gone on to enroll in the television and production curriculum at North Brunswick Township High School.
Brotshul said North Brunswick police and the mayor’s office notified the school district of Pappas’ death.
“On Wednesday night, we had a twohour session with faculty and staff, letting them know what had happened,” he said.
Support services including the Middlesex County Traumatic Loss Coalition were on hand to assist faculty, staff and students during the school days of Oct. 9 and 10.
“We continue to grieve. … [Pappas] was taken from us far too soon,” Brotshul said.
Zychowski said Linwood was closed on Tuesday so that staff members and students could pay their respects to Pappas, whose funeral was scheduled for 10 a.m. at Our Lady of Peace Church in North Brunswick.
“What happened cannot be quantified,” he said. “She was a young, vibrant and popular teacher who influenced so many with her no-nonsense approach. She was a tough teacher who connected with all her students because she cared about them.
“It is such an immeasurable loss … everyone at Linwood has come together and is providing help for each other at this time,” he said. Contact Kathy Chang at [email protected].