ERIC Number: EJ739681
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005
Pages: 4
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1046-6193
EISSN: N/A
Picking Up the Pieces
Robelen, Erik W.
Teacher Magazine, v17 n3 p18-21 Nov-Dec 2005
A school devastated by Hurricane Katrina, which struck southeastern Louisiana on August 29, reopens--but for teachers, the real work is just beginning. First, there was the storm. Roofing was ripped off some of the beige, block like buildings that make up Bonnabel High's nondescript campus nestled in a suburban neighborhood near the New Orleans airport. Heavy rains flooded halls and classrooms. Powerful winds leveled trees. Parts of the campus were under more than a foot of water. And then there was the mess left after the school was pressed into service as an evacuation center. Still, five weeks after Katrina landed in Louisiana, Bonnabel and 78 other Jefferson Parish schools are welcoming students back. This article describes efforts made by teachers and other staff members, cutting and hauling trees, bleaching walls, picking up things that they never, ever thought they would have to pick up, because they so highly value education, and they were committed to being there for their students. It tells the story of teachers, and administrators laboring to get Lousiana's school system back on its feet, up and running again, and helping students cope with their losses and trauma. In one makeshift classroom, a teacher tells her class, "The future that you envision for yourself, begins again today.?
Descriptors: Weather, Natural Disasters, Emergency Shelters, Public Schools, School Districts, Coping
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: High Schools
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A