Scores of friends and fellow students at Herbert Slater Middle School on Monday spent their lunch break writing notes of encouragement to hospitalized classmate Cruz Pineda.
"Dear Cruz, Hey I miss you so much. Don't give up now, you will make it through this, Love Shane," wrote one student on the wall-length get-well card.
"Can we sign if we didn't know her?" asked one girl, who was told an emphatic yes.
Pineda, a 13-year-old eighth-grader, remained at Children's Hospital in Oakland on Monday and was reported in a coma undergoing treatment for a brain injury.
Her mother, Antonia Pineda, reached by phone in Oakland, said only that Pineda and her sister, also hospitalized, were doing fine.
Older sister Deysi Pineda, a Montgomery High School student, was recovering from broken bones and was in stable condition at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. Previously reported as 16 years old, her mother Monday said Deysi was 15.
Both girls were hurt Saturday morning, hit by a pickup while standing with their father at a bus stop on Yulupa Avenue in east Santa Rosa.
Police later arrested Michael Robert Tweedie, 35, on suspicion of hit and run causing serious injury and driving under the influence. He was expected in court today.
Tweedie was driving fast on Yulupa Avenue when he hit a parked van, said Sgt. Doug Schlief. The truck then lost a wheel and veered out of control, hitting a curb and rolling several times, hitting the two girls.
Tweedie got out and ran but was located and arrested in the area a few hours later, he said.
Word of the crash spread quickly Monday morning as students returned to both the middle and high schools following the two-week holiday break.
"Kids are approaching me about doing some fund-raising or support event for the family. The teachers felt the same way," said Slater Principal Jason Lea.
Several ideas were being explored, Lea said.
"She's just a wonderful kid, always smiling, very positive, hardworking," Lea said.
Come lunchtime Monday, a steady flow of students lined up along the huge blue-colored paper to write their notes.
"She's my locker buddy," said Kassidy Pierce, 13. "I'm really sad."
Pierce wrote, "Locker buddy, I hope you get well soon. I miss you so much, Kass" with a drawn heart.
By the end of the half-hour break, the card was covered in similar messages in Spanish and English.
Cruz Pineda has been working to improve her English, said student adviser Wendy Albarran-Nymark, who encouraged students to write in Spanish if they could.
Saul Elias and some buddies came in to add their messages. Elias, 13, wrote his note in Spanish.
"Everyone here misses her and I hope she comes back," Elias said.
Montgomery Principal Laurie Fong visited Deysi Pineda on Sunday at Memorial Hospital.
"Deysi was really in fabulous spirits," Fong said Monday.
Fong said that during their visit the girl said she felt bad for the driver who hit her and her younger sister in Saturday's crash.
"The level of empathy of that little girl was just amazing," Fong said. "She felt it was hard for the driver and hard for his family."
Pineda is recovering from some broken bones, including a broken shoulder.
Fong said Deysi Pineda was anxious to return to school and planned to be back as soon as she is physically able.
Fong said administrators would be talking to Deysi's teachers to see what could be done in those classes to address what happened to the girl.
The girls' father, Asefredo Pineda, wasn't hurt in the crash as he was able to dive to the side in time. A longtime dishwasher at Coco's Restaurant on Farmers Lane, Pineda's co-workers are organizing help for the family.
His son, Arnulfo, 19, also worked there and the two sisters were regular members of the Coco's family. News of their injuries upset the employees and many customers, said Lory Younger, restaurant manager.
"I've taken up donations, and got a wonderful response," Younger said. She said she's in the process of setting up a trust account at Exchange Bank with the money and for further donations for the girls.
Younger started by setting out a lock box with a sign saying money donated would go to the father and his daughters, signed, "We love you from Coco's."
When that filled, she locked up the money and replaced it with a large marachino cherry jar, to collect more.
She said about $1,000 came in.
You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com.
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