In August, Andra Spencer’s father posted a picture of his daughter headed off to her first day of school.

In the photo, the 15-year-old is smiling, wearing a blue top, ripped jeans, black sneakers and her school backpack, ready to start her junior year of high school at Bacon Academy in Colchester.

“They grow up fast,” her father wrote.

Spencer was just a week away from turning 16. Her “Sweet 16″ party was already planned and she could hardly wait to celebrate with family and friends, Brian Spencer said.

By Monday, her now grief-stricken father was sharing old photos of his daughter’s short life in the wake of her tragic death in a Glastonbury car crash on Sunday night. Photos of her dining out at a Chinese food buffet, smiling at an aquarium, and trying on a sparkly blue dress paired with socks and Crocs.

Spencer was in the backseat of her mother’s SUV, headed home to Colchester with her brother, when a motorcycle collided with their vehicle on Hebron Avenue in Glastonbury just before 7 p.m., according to her father and the Glastonbury Police Department.

Just about 24 hours before the crash, Andra Spencer was photographed beaming toward the camera, heading off to her school’s homecoming dance in a dark green dress and black heels.

Instead of sharing that happy moment with friends and family, Brian Spencer posted the photo with an announcement of the heartbreaking news that his daughter had died.

“My life will never be the same,” he wrote.

Andra Spencer always made sure her dad looked his best before leaving the house — she’d never let him walk out the door “looking disheveled,” he said. She liked to steal his flannel shirts.

Her favorite song was “Cardigan” by Taylor Swift, and she loved pandas.

She wanted to go to college and become a therapist.

“She cared so much for those who needed help,” her dad told the Courant. “She was so alive and happy. She loved taking pictures of sunsets.”

“She was the sweetest, most [caring], young woman you would ever meet,” Spencer said. “She was always concerned about doing the right thing and making sure you did as well.”

She was excited about the school dance she had just gone to, Spencer said, and about the new school year ahead. Her dad described her as a social girl with a great group of friends, the type of person who was loved by everyone she met.

The middle child of three siblings, Spencer loved her brother and sister and “would always and tenaciously stick up for her family,” even in spite of typical sibling rivalries, he said.

“She was my little baby,” her father said Tuesday.

In a post on her Facebook page, Andra’s mother Amorette Hight described her daughter as her “mini-me.”

“Words cannot describe the heartache I feel right now,” she wrote, saying she was sorry her young daughter never had the chance to learn how to drive or go on her first date.

Hight was driving when the crash occurred, said Spencer. Police said two people in the SUV were taken to a nearby hospital for observation, while a backseat passenger — Andra Spencer — and the motorcyclist were rushed to a hospital with serious injuries.

The driver of the motorcycle, Gordon “Mac” Southby, was also killed in the crash, according to police and a statement from Glastonbury High School. He was 18 years old.

As of Tuesday, police had not released further details about what led to the crash.

A GoFundMe was started to help Spencer’s family cover the costs of her funeral. By Tuesday evening, it had raised over $1,900 toward the $10,000 goal.