Scholarship, safety stickers set up for Marblehead teen killed in car accident

MARBLEHEAD-The message on the oval bumper sticker begins simply: “Slow Down for Allie.”It ends with the words, “Allie Castner, Forever in Our Hearts.”The family of a 15-year-old girl who died Aug. 24 after she was hit by a car on Pleasant Street hopes that those words in light blue letters will make motorists think about their responsibilities and “just basically slow down, because life can change in a minute,” in the words of the girl?s father, Chris Castner.The accident had a tremendous impact on Alessandra “Allie” Castner?s high school classmates. A tree adjacent to the accident scene has become a roadside shrine with flowers and messages, and before classes began Tuesday a grief counselor visited the school to address parents in an evening session and teachers the following morning.A scholarship fund has been established at the National Grand Bank in the late Marblehead High sophomore?s memory. More bumper stickers are being printed and the family is working on a distribution plan. As Castner put it, “We?ve all come together as a community.”Chris Castner and Allie?s sister, Lia, visited the School Committee Thursday evening with some sample bumper stickers. “It?s an important message to get out there,” he said.The School Committee observed a moment of silence after Castner spoke.?Thank you for working so hard to make something positive out of this, something meaningful to other kids and to our town,” Superintendent of Schools Paul Dulac told Castner.Allie had three sisters n Lia, Haley and Marley. As he spoke Castner referred to his four daughters. “Allie is still with me,” he said.In some positive ways she is still with Marblehead as well.