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Popular principal at Acreage middle school killed in crash


By LEON FOOKSMAN
sun-sentinel.com

March 8, 2006, 3:30 PM EST

WEST PALM BEACH – The popular principal of Western Pines Community Middle School in the rural Acreage area was killed Wednesday morning when her car collided with a pickup truck, the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office said.

PBSO spokesman Paul Miller said the crash occurred around 7:30 a.m. in the intersection of Pratt Whitney Road and the Bee Line Highway as Western Pines principal Margaret "Peggy" Campbell, 62, drove to work at the school, 5949 140 Avenue North.

Miller said Campbell, who lived in the Jupiter farms area, was making a turn in her four-door Subaru when it collided with a Dodge Ram pickup truck with five men in it.

Police are still investigating the crash, but said preliminary indications were the pickup truck ran a red light and struck the Subaru, and was at fault.

The driver of the pickup, Cesar Majia, 30, and his four passengers were arrested by federal Border Patrol agents and charged with illegal entry into the country. Their countries of origin were not immediately known although Miller said Majia held a Mexican driver's license. All were taken to the Palm Beach County Jail.

Campbell had worked for the school district since 1967 and was principal of the school since it opened in 1997.

The district, in a release, said she attended Metuchen High in Metuchen, N.J., and graduated from Florida Southern College in Lakeland and earned her master's degree from Nova University in 1981.

Campbell started in the Palm Beach County School District in 1967 at John F. Kennedy High School as a social studies teacher. She also taught at H.L. Watkins Middle School, Twin Lakes High and was an assistant principal at Jupiter High, Carver Middle School and John F. Kennedy before becoming a curriculum specialist in secondary education. She later was principal of the Gold Coast Corp Academy, then helped open Western Pines.

In Wednesday's release, the district said "Campbell ... was described by all of her teachers, staff and coworkers throughout the district as a very special, upbeat and positive person who loved her school ... She always saw the bright side of a situation and cared deeply for her students and her work ... 'Peggy' spent long hours at work, and the school was her extended family."

In the release, Dr. Janis Andrews, area superintendent, said grief counselors will work with grieving students and staff in the days ahead.