ENDWELL, NY (WIVT/WBGH) – Three Maine Endwell Middle School students were commended for reuniting a young kid with his family.

8th Graders Nathan Kennedy, Liam McQuade, and Coltan Phillips were walking along Hooper Road after the school’s Homecoming Parade on October 15th.

They noticed a 4-year-old boy crying and walking near the intersection of Pheasant Lane.

The three students stopped to talk with the child and found out he was lost and had walked away from his family at the high school. One of the students called his father, who happens to be a school resource officer for the district.

The child was nervous that the boys had confronted him but noticed all three of them were wearing M-E football jerseys, and that seemed to make him more comfortable.

8th Grader at Maine Endwell Middle School, Coltan Phillips says, “It just warmed my heart when I saw that the kid saw his parents. Because who could’ve known what would have happened to that kid if we didn’t help. Could’ve got hit, could’ve got taken or something, and then after, if we didn’t help, who knows what would’ve happened.”

The students stayed with the kid until the SRO arrived.

Around the same time, the assistant principal at Homer Brink, Kara Mallery had noticed the group and stopped to help. She identified the 4-year-old as a Homer Brink student, called his parents, and the family was reunited.

Mallery and each of the students received a commendation award from Senator Fred Akshar today.

Allegedly, several adults and cars had drove past the lost child, but it was the students who took it upon themselves to help.