The Jones County Junior College Counseling Center is offering its services this week following the death of two JCJC students in an automobile accident Friday.

Jasmine Russell, 24, of Columbia, and Adrianna K. Batimon, of Carson, were killed when the 2002 F-150 Ford truck Russell was driving collided with another truck and the vehicles caught on fire. Dustin L. White, 19, of Sumrall, the driver of a 2007 F-150 Ford truck, was also killed.

Taylor J. Newsome, 18, of Prentiss, also a student at JCJC, was reportedly in critical condition at South Central Regional Medical Center.

Gwen McGee, director of the JCJC Counseling Center, said younger people often don’t see death as often, and struggle with their coping skills.

“That’s part of our responsibility in educating young people,” she said. “We want to create an environment of openness, trust and sharing. Safety is also an issue we stress, especially following a car accident.”

McGee said JCJC students are considered family members, and the losses of Russell and Batimon are being handled that way.

“We went into each class this morning where we lost a family member to help them determine their response, provide them with information on what the families are doing and certainly empower them to follow up with us,” she said.

McGee said there is a worry that a student’s previous loss of a family member or friend may be heightened with this incident.

“If they just need to talk about those circumstances, we’ve provided our counseling staff today and will all week,” she said. “We’ve shared our cell phone numbers, and encouraged them to reach out to other people in need.”

McGee noted that Dianne Speed, executive director of the Mississippi Counseling Association, and former director of the JCJC Counseling Center, has offered her services. Ed Smith, the college’s vice president of student affairs, has also followed up with the families, she said.

“This morning, a lot of kids didn’t know (about the incident),” McGee said. “It was all over the news media, but unless it comes across their cell phones, students may not get that information.”

McGee said that an e-mail was circulated to JCJC students from Sumrall because White, although not enrolled at the college, was from there.

“We wanted to let them know that they can come by as well,” she said. “It’s very hard to find them all on campus because they’re not in a particular place at a particular time.”

In addition to those that the Counseling Center sees, McGee said many students will talk to a faculty member that they’re close to as opposed to a counselor.

“Our faculty do a great job of identifying needs and referring them as well,” she said. “Because they have that personal relationship with them, there will be a lot that goes on that we don’t know about.”