Monday morning was anything but normal at Cold Springs Middle School.

By the time students arrived here most had already heard teacher Norman Waller had been killed Friday night, struck by a passing vehicle at a pedestrian crosswalk on North Virginia Street near the Bonanza Casino.

"I was on Facebook and I saw an event that someone made up," says seventh grader Edgar Padilla."I thought they were making fun of him. So, I'm like take this down please."

Twelve year old Jordyn Jerrett got a phone call from a friend. "I didn't believe it when I heard it at all. I was really upset."

Waller was new to the school this year. He and close friend Travis Stransky had transferred here after working together for nine years in the close knit small school atmosphere at Gerlach.

"That was his life," says Stransky, who teaches 8th grade social studies, "teaching, being able to teach kids and influence them. He had a great passion for it."

That dedication to teaching, leavened with a dose of humor worked as well in a large school like Cold Springs.

"He taught us a lot," says Jerrett. "He was a really nice guy. He was really funny and made us happy."

A school is really a community and a death can have a lasting impact.

As the school day began, administrators, counselors and the 7th grade teaching team gathered with their students and began the tough work of dealing with loss. It's something that will take time.

"Some kids have tears flowing down their face," says 7th grade social studies teacher Mike Inskeep. "Other kids aren't quite sure what to do and then you see some that have that stonewall blank look on their face and are internalizing it and shutting down completely."

Inskeep says the impact of Waller's death will linger. His students agree.

"I'm still kind of bummed out about it," says Padilla. "but things happen all the time, but I'm going to miss him for sure.

The particular accident is still under investigation. The driver was a 31 year old woman. Alcohol and speed do not appear to be a factor.

Nevada law requires a motorist to come to a complete stop when a pedestrian steps off the curb and to remain stopped until he or she reaches the opposite curb.

Forty seven pedestrians died on Nevada roadways last year. There were 12 here in Washoe County. That was a 200 percent increase at a time when other types of traffic fatalities were actually declining.