Seven kids in one Michigan family are hurt after getting into a car crash on the way to school Monday morning.

The driver of the car, 17-year-old Paige Hicks from White Pigeon, slid on a drift of snow on the road, lost control and crashed into a tree. She was in the car with six other kids who are siblings and cousins, one being a six-year-old little girl.

Hicks was initially taken to a hospital in Three Rivers but then flown to a hospital in Kalamazoo and treated in the trauma care unit. At that hospital are three other family members who were taken to the pediatric intensive care unit. Now, Hicks has been released from the hospital, and two of the other girls, ages 11 and 12, have been upgraded to fair condition. The fourth is a 10 year old girl who is still listed in critical condition.

The remaining three passengers in the car were taken to a Three Rivers hospital and are expected to be okay.

"Oh. That's such a shame. Wow," says Gretta Wooten, who lives next door to the family, after finding out about the crash. "I'm just hoping that they're okay and that their mom has the strength to go through with it."

The crash happened on Stears Road near U.S. 131 in Constantine Township just after 7 o’clock Monday morning. Police say the family was driving in a Ford Focus, which only safely fits five people. Officials say five kids were in the back seat. When police got the call and responded, a ten year old girl was unconscious and the driver was standing outside the car crying.

"She was crying. She was calling out the names of her family members. She was extremely upset,” says Trooper Michael Thyng, Michigan State Police. “I don't even think she realized what kind of injuries she had."

"It's a tragedy. There's no other word for it," says Constantine Public Schools Superintendent Chuck Frisbie, who called in the crisis team to help other students in the district. "Kids need to talk about it. I've found, the more kids talk, the better they feel about it."

But friends and neighbors won’t truly feel better until Hicks and her six other family members are home from the hospital and healed.

"It's very sad. They're great kids--all of them," shares Kelly Schwemer, who lives next door and whose kids play often with those in the accident. "We're here for them and if they need anything, they know where we are. We'll be praying for them and hope that they get to come home soon. And we love them."