A County Armagh high school has paid a glowing tribute to a hugely popular and much-loved student following her sudden passing this week.
Glenanne teenager Megan Harshaw, a Year 12 pupil at Markethill High School, died suddenly on Thursday.
She was the dearly loved daughter of Trevor and Joelene and much loved sister of Sarah and Sofie.
Colin Berry, Principal at Markethill High, penned a tribute on behalf of the school for “a very popular and much loved member of our school community who demonstrated genuine academic ability with determination and diligence”.
“The entire school community is deeply saddened by the sudden news,” wrote Mr Berry.
“[Megan] had just completed her GCSE assessments, following the upheaval of Covid-19 and Centre Determined Grades, after five years at Markethill High School.
“I am very confident that Megan, would have been receiving an excellent set of GCSE results in August, and she was more than ready to embrace the next step of her educational pathway at the Royal School Armagh ahead of her ultimate dream of becoming a vet.
“Her Form class 12DC1 are an extremely close knit and loyal cohort and Megan was always there, enjoying the laughter during the good times and wiping away tears on the difficult days.
“I now pray and encourage all of 12DC1 to rally together and support each other, exactly like Megan would have done in her ever dependable and compassionate manner.
“Megan regularly impressed us with her abilities in all subject areas. And she opted to focus on the following subjects – Art, French, Further Maths and Triple Award Science.
Mr Berry said Megan was a particularly talented artist and, in recent years, was an invaluable volleyball player.
He added: “Megan also loved her part time job in The Dolphin Takeaway in Markethill and there she served customers with such a polite disposition, showing maturity far beyond her years and a superb work ethic.
“I have no doubt in my mind that Megan had an exceptional future ahead of her, and she will be remembered with great fondness by the entire school community.
“As a school community we extend our heartfelt sympathies to Megan’s parents, Mr and Mrs. T Harshaw, her sisters, Sarah and Sophie, as well as the entire family circle and her much loved friends at this very difficult time.”
Tributes poured in over social media with one woman commenting: “Devastated by this news. Such a beautiful, extremely bright and downright lovely young lady who was all set for her Post 16 adventures.”
Another wrote: “Megan was a beautiful young lady and everyone that knew her feels her loss so much.”
One woman commented: “Absolutely heartbreaking…the most kind-hearted girl, taken far too soon!”
The Dolphin Takeaway, where Megan worked, announced it had closed its doors until further notice due to the bereavement.
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