Just when you thought it was safe, another update to the website is posted! I will continue to update throughout the summer - both for summer school students and for others. Some of the postings will involve the addition of online materials for use in our fourth grade class, next year; others will provide commentary, ideas, or news that need to be dispersed.
This particular update, however, is not about the summer; it is about spring - the time of year that we know, all too well, brings the threat of severe weather.
A couple of days ago, upon getting home after school, I heard for the first time, about the tornado in Moore, Oklahoma, triggering the need for schools to take emergency shelter and enact their emergency plans. School buses were not running their routes until safety could be assured. My brother, living near the affected area, had to take leave of his job to collect his two children from their respective schools. The church where I met my wife was among the first to set up alternative shelter and relief for victims.
Once I found that my family was in the clear, I started watching the news. The heartbreaking word of teachers sheltering their students in a school restroom hit home with us. The heart-wrenching account of children trapped in a school and predicted dead is difficult to hear. After experiencing our own EF-5 twister, exactly two years ago, we watched with extreme clarity as cadaver dogs padded through the debris.
This particular update, however, is not about the summer; it is about spring - the time of year that we know, all too well, brings the threat of severe weather.
A couple of days ago, upon getting home after school, I heard for the first time, about the tornado in Moore, Oklahoma, triggering the need for schools to take emergency shelter and enact their emergency plans. School buses were not running their routes until safety could be assured. My brother, living near the affected area, had to take leave of his job to collect his two children from their respective schools. The church where I met my wife was among the first to set up alternative shelter and relief for victims.
Once I found that my family was in the clear, I started watching the news. The heartbreaking word of teachers sheltering their students in a school restroom hit home with us. The heart-wrenching account of children trapped in a school and predicted dead is difficult to hear. After experiencing our own EF-5 twister, exactly two years ago, we watched with extreme clarity as cadaver dogs padded through the debris.
Irving Elementary after the 2011 Joplin tornado Still, the 2011 tornado in Joplin was different. We were not in school on that Sunday, but the schools did immediately initiate a plan to locate all of our students and staff. I have visited the families of all but one of the students our school district lost in the storm. The single staff member who perished, along with her husband, were among my best friends (They were holding and cooing with my then one-year-old, the morning of the storm. Forever, this will be the image I save in my memory.). There is no way of knowing how things might have been different if students had been in school. Some who died would likely have been saved in their schools, but their parents, fraught with worry about them, may have dangerously been rushing to the schools in their cars to assure their safety, endangering themselves in cars on outside. We cannot know if the destroyed school buildings would have provided sufficient shelter for students if school had been in session.
Community safe rooms at school facilities soon Our own school would have been sufficient. The center section is reinforced for just such an event. Now, of course, a new gym/safe room will be built before next fall. In the event of a storm, the structure will automatically open for the surrounding community.
As teachers, we think about a variety of scenarios that would spark our emergency responses. I believe it is in the nature of most teachers to shield students as much as possible. I believe most would step between students and danger. Thankfully, we did not have to test that belief in 2011, but we have often found ourselves doing the same, as much as possible, emotionally. In 1995, it was my decision that put our Oklahoma City school building into lockout in the minutes/hours following the terrorist bombing. In 2001, I assisted in unofficially advising my co-workers of how to deal with student reactions. And in the 2011/2, just as in the weeks following the '95 bombing, we addressed the effects of the Joplin tornado. It is impossible to put myself in the path of the emotional whirlwind that succeeds disaster, but I have attempted to help my pupils work through their own emotional responses to tragedy.
With the news of the devastation and loss of life in Moore, Oklahoma, are you or someone in your family experiencing "flashbacks"? During this second anniversary of the Joplin tornado, are you still dealing with overwhelming emotions? Please contact me. There are agencies I can help you contact, and I would be honored to personally accompany you to them for introductions.
As teachers, we think about a variety of scenarios that would spark our emergency responses. I believe it is in the nature of most teachers to shield students as much as possible. I believe most would step between students and danger. Thankfully, we did not have to test that belief in 2011, but we have often found ourselves doing the same, as much as possible, emotionally. In 1995, it was my decision that put our Oklahoma City school building into lockout in the minutes/hours following the terrorist bombing. In 2001, I assisted in unofficially advising my co-workers of how to deal with student reactions. And in the 2011/2, just as in the weeks following the '95 bombing, we addressed the effects of the Joplin tornado. It is impossible to put myself in the path of the emotional whirlwind that succeeds disaster, but I have attempted to help my pupils work through their own emotional responses to tragedy.
With the news of the devastation and loss of life in Moore, Oklahoma, are you or someone in your family experiencing "flashbacks"? During this second anniversary of the Joplin tornado, are you still dealing with overwhelming emotions? Please contact me. There are agencies I can help you contact, and I would be honored to personally accompany you to them for introductions.
