JYY HERO OF THE WEEK (9-16)

10 YEAR OLD GIRL SAVES TEACHERS LIFE

For 30 years, there isn't much new that can surprise fourth-grade teacher Rodney Booth at Denver's Sabin Elementary School. He has taught hundreds of youngsters, but Sarah Harmon may be the one he will never forget. Booth says he is extremely grateful to her for saving his life. Like many children, Sarah is a busy bundle of energy. In class, she's part of her school's Shakespeare club. After school, she participates in a soccer league. But her quick thinking on a recent field trip was more than anyone ever expected from a 10-year-old. Booth was driving his students to the Air Force Academy.

"I wasn't feeling well and all of a sudden, I just passed out," he recalls. "We were on the Interstate, [going] 70 miles an hour on the passing lane." Firefighter Jarrob Lamb says the accident started at the guardrail where the car bounced off of it a few times. "I was just sitting in my back seat, listening to my headset, and all of a sudden we hear this loud scratch type thing and then it happened another time," recalls one student.

The kids noticed Booth was unconscious. "He just passed out," says Sarah. "I'm just like, 'Oh my gosh, What's going to happen to us.' I don't even remember if I thought fast or anything. I just did it."

Sarah grabbed the wheel and safely steered the car through two lanes of traffic, over a grassy area into a safe dirt road. Of course, the young girl doesn't even know how to drive. Harmon modestly says she just knew what to do. "I don't remember hitting the guardrail at all," says Booth. "The first thing I remember is that I hear Sarah saying, 'Wake up Mr. Booth. Wake up Mr. Booth.' And I'm starting to wake up and she's going for the cell phone. That's when I started to realize what had happened."

Not only did she grab the wheel and get the vehicle safely off the highway, but she also remembered that her teacher had a phone in his pocket. So she found the phone and dialed 911. "From what I understand, she was trying to calm the other kids as well," says Firemen Lamb. "Not only was she taking control of the situation, but also the other kids." Sarah says her parents were proud of her actions - but she was an emotional wreck after she realized what happened. "I was kind of crying and stuff and my mom and dad were just shocked and giving me hugs and trying to comfort me," she says.

When it was over, Sarah was recognized as a hero by several hometown organizations and by her parents, who said they knew she was capable of such heroism all along. She's always been their little hero. Back at school, Booth is as popular as ever. Sarah may look like just another one of his bubbling fourth graders, but she has her teacher's heartfelt gratitude. And, though she's just 10 years old, Sarah's teacher already is promising her an A-plus in Driver's Ed. (CBS)