CLAYTON -- Students and staff at Cooper Elementary School arrived on campus last Wednesday morning dressed in attire that paid tribute to a fallen classmate.

A sea of blue -- Marcus Lassiter's favorite color -- flowed through the halls and later into the gym for a somber end-of-quarter awards ceremony. Although teachers took time to praise their students for their hard work in the classroom, several also made note of one face missing among the crowd.

The absence of 7-year-old Lassiter affected few people more than Kate Mundt, his first-grade teacher. Mundt had hoped to honor Lassiter for boasting perfect attendance this school year.

Instead, Mundt joined students, staff and some parents in mourning a life cut tragically short. Lassiter, who lived with his parents on Madison Street near Selma, died early last week of injuries suffered when a car hit him outside his grandmother’s house near Four Oaks.

“Marcus was very sweet and extremely funny,” Mundt said. “He had one of the best smiles. He would walk in every day with a smile on his face.”

Mundt said Lassiter was a popular student who didn’t play favorites among his peers. She said Lassiter was also a star student in her classroom, despite his struggles with certain subjects.

“He was such a motivated learner,” Mundt said. “He was strong in math and borderline at some other things, but that absolutely did not deter him. Anything I told him to do to become better, he would do it. Seeing that made me want to work that much harder as a teacher.”

Rosa Watson, Lassiter’s great-aunt, said it never ceased to amaze her how influential Marcus had become at such a young age. “It’s almost like you don’t even know how to explain it,” she said. “He was like a real sunshine wherever he was. Marcus was so outgoing, so friendly and lively. He was just so full of life.”

Watson said Marcus and his parents, Greca and Sheila Lassiter, were committed members of First Missionary Baptist Church in Clayton. She said Marcus had made many friends in the church through a basketball league and through the church’s music department, where he both sang and played drums.

“You could not help but have Marcus as a friend,” Watson said. “He would not let you be unfriendly. He was not shy or moody, but from his infancy on up, he was just so radiant.”

“In everything he did, I think we could well say he would have been such a promising star,” she added.

Back at Cooper Elementary, Mundt and others spent much of their week working to ensure that Lassiter’s memory would not be forgotten. During Wednesday’s awards ceremony, Principal Julie Jailall led students in a moment of silence. And later, Mundt gathered her students on stage to recite a poem in Lassiter’s honor.

Students also spent part of the week making brightly colored beaded necklaces, which they sold for $1 each. By the time the necklaces went on sale Thursday, Mundt said, about 100 students were already waiting in a line to buy one. Several other schools — two in Johnston and one in Nash County — also requested necklaces, she said.

By Monday, the school had raised more than $2,000 for the family to help cover funeral expenses. Lassiter was laid to rest Saturday afternoon in the cemetery at Johnston Piney Grove Baptist Church near Clayton.

Mundt said the school planned to plant a star magnolia tree on campus soon in Lassiter’s memory. “It might seem like a lot, but this is the way we do things here at Cooper,” she said. “We’re all like a close-knit family, and we don’t want it to go unnoticed when we lose one of our own.”