An ASU West student died in a car crash in west Phoenix on Tuesday morning while on her way to work.
Sarah Yant, a business education junior, reportedly was driving on Camelback Road near 107th Avenue when she veered onto the dirt shoulder and then overcorrected, colliding with a car going in the opposite direction, said her husband, Regan Yant. He said the other driver had a broken ankle and additional minor cuts.
Yant, 22, had been a substitute teacher for the past three years, teaching various subjects at Mountain Sky Junior High in Phoenix and working with autistic elementary school children.
"They would call for her without even looking at the register because they knew how good of a job she'd do," her husband said.
He said the family would accept donations, which would be split evenly between his daughter, Serenity, and an autistic child whom Sarah had tutored.
ASU business education professor Martha Rader praised Yant, adding that she had recently won a $600 scholarship given to ASU's outstanding business education student.
"She was just a very caring person who would have made an excellent teacher," Rader said. "She cared a lot about her students."
Yant's family remembered Sarah as a generous person who tried to ensure the happiness of others.
"She was very loyal and very caring, and she worked to help other people," Mr. Yost said.
Carlyn Yant, Sarah's sister-in-law, said proof of her character could be seen in her acceptance of Regan's daughter from a previous relationship.
"She loved her like she was her own daughter," she said.
"She always wanted to make sure that everyone was taken care of," said Davin Yant, Carlyn's son. "She always had faith that everyone could do more than what they were doing."
Rader said that although Yant was not the first of her students to die while enrolled, she had an unusual amount of potential.
"It's just really sad," Rader said. "When we lose the best [student] we've got, it's just really devastating."
Yant is the second ASU West student to die in a car accident within the past several weeks. ASU West student Shequila James-Hardeman, 26, passed away after a car accident on April 8.
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Reach the reporter at garrett.neese@asu.edu.
