CANAAN - A 16-year-old junior at Telstar Regional High School was killed Saturday morning in a three-vehicle accident on Route 2.

Dorothy "Dee Dee" Palmer of Andover, a member of the school's Future Business Leaders of America club, was en route to a conference at Nokomis Regional High School in Newport when she was struck by an oncoming van.

She was driving her own vehicle behind a Telstar school bus carrying four other students and a teacher to the same conference, according to state police. Palmer had decided to drive her own car because she was planning to visit the University of Maine after the conference, in advance of applying to it next year.

"She was just a terrific kid," Theodore Davis, principal of Telstar, said Saturday night. "She was a very quiet young lady and well-liked by her peers ... All of our thoughts and prayers are with the family."

Palmer was an active member of the business club, as well as a member of the field hockey team.

The school will be open from noon until 4 p.m. today to offer counseling by its crisis response team. The services will be available at Telstar again Monday as well.

"At this point we're doing the best we can, thinking about the student body as a whole and trying to meet their needs," said Davis.

The Telstar teacher, Jennifer Bennett, 36 of Bethel, and students Thomas Henley, Mathew Lauro, Elizabeth Forkus and Amy Farrington, all suffered minor injuries after the bus was sideswiped by an on-coming van. Bus driver Tommy Sweetser, 62, of Bethel also had minor injuries. All were treated at Redington-Fairview General Hospital in Skowhegan and released.

The driver of the van, Stephen Carter, 49, of Whitefield, told police he had dropped a handkerchief in the van and was reaching for it when his vehicle crossed the center line, sideswiped the bus and then slammed into Palmer's vehicle. Both the bus and the van overturned and came to rest on their sides, reported police. Palmer died at the scene.

According to Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland, no decision had been made on charges as of Saturday evening.

Earlier in the day a Naples woman was killed when she lost control of her vehicle in Casco. Ericka Thibodeau, 34, reportedly died at the scene after her car overturned on Route 11 curve. The crash was reported at 3:20 a.m., according to state police.