FORT MILL, S.C. -- Led by their principal, three students walked outside Nation Ford High School in Fort Mill on Monday morning. They were there to talk to reporters about the loss of a friend.

Their faces showed the week is going to be long and painful for them.

"It's hard to keep going in your classes. You just can't focus after losing a friend like that," said senior Jackson Gibson.

Gibson, who had known 17-year-old Luke Hoover since both were little, is taking his death hard.

"I had him in my first period class with all my friends. You look over and see an empty seat, and there's normally somebody there making you laugh, it's hard," he said.

Hoover was killed late Saturday after trying to pass a car on Holbrook Road outside Fort Mill. He lost control of his Jeep and struck a tree.

A week ago, 16-year-old Michelle Dibernardini was killed when the car she was riding in hit a pickup truck in Fort Mill. Now the large spirit rocks outside the high school are painted with their names, nick names and well wishes to their families.

Principal Beverley Bowman wants her students not just to mourn, but to learn from the tragedies. Monday morning, in a school-wide address, she encouraged them to take a driving course called Alive At 25.

"I talked with our students about that class and urged them to sign up for it," Bowman said.

Alive At 25 has been offered across the state for a few years, but it's voluntary. About 120 Nation Ford students have taken it.

Fort Mill police Officer Millie Little teaches the course. She told Eyewitness News that the last few classes have not been full. The class is limited to 30 students at a time.

"I don't teach driving. I teach the consequences of poor driving," Little said. "If it saves a life, it's doing its purpose.”

The four-hour course focuses on distractions, such as texting, traveling with a car load of friends and taking your eyes off the road.

It costs $35 per student. That's one reason in a down economy that Fort Mill school leaders did not make it mandatory. However, that may change now.

"The school board, I'm very sure, will revisit this issue," Bowman said.

Gibson said he never thought much about taking the class, which does not include a credit toward graduation. But after losing a close friend, things are different.

"I probably will. It seems like a smart thing to do," he said.

On Monday, grief counselors were again available to students dealing with two deaths in just one week.

Hoover ran track and cross country. His coach, Scott Barefield, said he's just trying to be there for his team and give a lot of hugs.

"We've just got to remember all the good things, and help these kids get through it," he said.

Bowman said the school is working on special memorials for both Dibernardini and Hoover in the coming days.