A Cobb County high school senior drowned over the weekend while in a study abroad program in Indonesia.
Morgan Lide, of Marietta, attended Wheeler High School for three years before beginning the exchange program this fall, a school district spokesman said Monday night.
Morgan was swimming in Bali with her host family when the group lost sight of her, Principal David Chiprany told students Monday morning.
“Sadly, while they were playing in the ocean, the group lost sight of Morgan and she was found later on the shore,” Chiprany said. “She could not be resuscitated by lifeguards that were on site.”
Morgan was a participant in the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Abroad Program that is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. She blogged about her experiences aboard, posting pictures of life with her host family.
“Life as I know it is about to end in just one day,” Morgan wrote in September. “Tomorrow morning I leave my family, friends, and hometown, something that I should be completely overwhelmed by, but that somehow I feel strangely calm about.”
Some students wore blue to school Monday in honor of Morgan. Counselors were at the Marietta-area school Monday to assist students dealing with the death.
The school held a moment of silence Monday morning to honor the teen.
Morgan is survived by her parents and an older sister.
Her family is “very touched by the outpouring of support and love in memory of Morgan, who touched so many,” family friend Maria Myler said in an email.
Funeral arrangements had not been announced late Monday.
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