Leaving on a Jet Plane

So here I am, two movies finished on my trans-Pacific flight to South Korea.  My "goal" is to stay awake as much of this flight as possible so that my body literally collapses when it is bed time tonight; we'll see how well this goal is realized, especially since I've already cat napped a little bit.

Knowing that my flight leaving Oklahoma Cty was early so I didn't sleep the night before.  I arrived at the airport shortly after 4:00 AM for my 5:30 non-stop flight to Los Angles where 1) I would meet 10 of the other 40 teachers going on this trip (including a middle school teacher from Shawnee...woot woot, representing Oklahoma) and 2) I would catch my 13 hour flight on to Seoul.

Based upon the recommendation from the Korea Society (organizer of this trip), I tried the Bibimbop, a traditional Korean rice engree, for lunch on the flight; the flight attendant seemed very shocked that I, a non Korean, made this selection.  She even gave me an instruction card for mixing the rice and other ingredients together.  The recommendation was spot on as this was delicious!

I've since watched two movies: "OZ: The Great and Powerful" and "The Guilt Trip". And as I type this I'm contemplating my third selection...maybe "Les Misérables" or "Identity Thief" or something else??

Additionally, as I'm typing this message I notice that we are crossing the International Date Line.  So now it's already Wednesday for me.  I'll let you know the winning lottery numbers so you can play them tonight and win, LOL.

I guess I'll close for now and get back to another movie, or take another "short" nap since my eyes are drooping <grin>.  I'll check in later once we get settled in.

Community Spirit in Face of Tragedy

As part of my upcoming trip to South Korea I am supposed to prepare a lesson to teach in an English speaking class at a local high school.  The topics of our lessons was left open for each individual U.S. teacher.  Something hit me that perhaps the recent events in the community of my school & students would provide an ideal platform for a lesson.

I began thinking about natural disasters and the way that communities respond and help each other to overcome the disaster.  "Community" can be a very broad term to include just those in the immediate vicinity all the way to interpreting "community" as a common bond of human spirit across the planet.  So that the lesson is relevant to my Korean students I don't want this lesson to solely focus on the F5 tornado which hit Moore, OK on May 20th.  I've already begun researching natural disasters which have impacted the Korean Peninsula over the last decade or so: events which include a few typhoons (we call them hurricanes) and a massive flood in Seoul in 2011.  I hope to work these events into the lesson so as to help my Korean students make local connection with international events; I also hope to refine and replicate this lesson for my students back at Southmoore.

In preparation, I've found these images of front pages from newspapers in the aftermath of the May 20th tornado.  The Newseum, my current favorite museum in Washington, DC, has archived these images on their website.  I'm working on the best way to incorporate them into my lesson.  If you have any constructive ideas to help flush out this lesson please leave them in the comments section below; honestly, your insight is greatly appreciated

Tornado: Part Seven

The enormity of the devastation and the overwhelming feelings associated by the clean-up are enough to wear anyone down.  Combine all of that with the waiting for insurance findings/reports and FEMA paperwork and funerals to attend for friends/families and work responsibilities and and and and...my heart continues to break for those who have been directly impacted by this tragedy.

In the face of all of this tragedy I find myself  being worn down by thoughts of why them and not me?  I have still have a school to go to (granted its lack of electricity, phones, and internet have complicated the post-school work expected at the end of the year) and yet my colleagues at our neighboring schools of of Briarwood and Plaza Towers do not.  I have an intact home to go to (with power, TV and air conditioning) and yet so many of my students, friends, and co-workers don't.  My faith gets somewhat shaken by people who say something about being blessed it didn't get their home or school or that their being spared was by the "grace of God".  Those thoughts sicken me because it implies, intentionally or not, that God withheld his blessings and/or grace from others.  I know tragedies, especially weather related ones, impact people of all walks of life without regarding to race, ethnicity, citizenship, faith, creed, gender, sexual orientation, physical abilities, education level, socio-economic level, etc.  But I still am troubled with why was I able to escape such because I'd gladly have endured this to help even one of my students escape this suffering.

It is in this sense of being overwhelmed by everything surround the tornado that I have been thankful for the opportunities to escape the focus of the tragedy.

•  I was invited to a graduation party for one of my seniors (Sarah); while already planning to attend there was no way I was going to let the tornado's aftermath keep me from the party...I needed cake!
• Saturday's activities surrounded Southmoore's 5th annual Graduation and I was so thankful for an awesome celebration to help destract our community, even for just a brief moment, from the devastation 10 miles further south.  Congratulations SaberCat Class of 2013
• Saturday night allowed me the chance to attend another graduation party for another student (Hunter).  The interaction with his family and friends was just a great way to focus on life's blessings.  The food was awesome and...more cake too!
• Sunday evening, my good friend and colleague from another school district (Christine) hosted a dinner at her house.  It was so great to be able to join in a relaxed evening and just enjoy the friendship.
• Monday late afternoon and evening I joined my friend Donna for a movie (Star Trek...go see it!!) and then a special dinner as a fundraiser/benefit the Oklahoma Red Cross's relief efforts.  I have since learned that through their efforts at a "pop-up" restaurant in Myriad Gardens, the culinary artists who lent their talents to OK Chefs Relief raised over $75,000 on Sunday and Monday.
• Tuesday for lunch I joined Anita (the PTA/Band mom, awesome substitute teacher, and new friend) and her children for lunch.  While it was meant as a way to help encourage her family, it was also a great way for me to get to know Timothy, her son, who will be in my class next year.  He better watch out because I have some "dirt" on him now, LOL.

Each of these moments have helped provide the emotional and stress relief I've needed so that I can hope to be the best possible support for those I love who are in need.  I know many of my friends and family members are concerned about me and their simply words in person, in e-mail, in text, on Facebook, etc. mean so much.  If nothing else, the lessons surrounding this tragedy are that we need to make sure we communicate to those we love that we do care about them and also to allow others to share that love with us.

While I know it will separate me from the immediate situation here in central Oklahoma, I am strongly looking forward to my upcoming travels...even those that are work related like scoring the essays which high school students from throughout the USA/World wrote for the AP United States History exam.  Summer is a time to recharge in between school years and I know that I need to do as much of that as I can...because with the impact of the tornado I'll need to still be equipped to be a strong support system to my new students next year because they will still be dealing with the effects and changes on their lives.  It's time to let summer begin...

Junior Escorts lined up & ready for graduation

Seniors, Change Your Tassels!

Myriad Gardens before dinner

Chicken Fried Scallops

Tiki Spare Ribs

Desmond Mason's heart made of tornado debris

Tornado: Part Five

As I pulled into the driveway at Southmoore on Friday morning something colorful caught my attention.  I saw a large amount of yellow shirts on the side of our building...with rakes, shovels, trash bags, etc.  They were helping to clean our grounds of the debris from the peripheral winds of the tornado.  I did make my way out to where they were working so as to learn who this group was.  Interestingly enough I noticed that it wasn't just yellow shirts, but there were also many people wearing purple...there were actually TWO volunteer groups.  The purple clad blessings were part of a national disaster recovery team called DRAW: Disaster Relief at Work; this specific group was a based out of a Michigan community near Detroit.  The yellow clad blessings were part of a national disaster relief team affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints; these "Mormon Helping Hands" include LDS missionaries from all over the U.S. and they were joined today by one of Southmoore's own wonderful LDS families...the Beans!!  Both groups worked long and hard to help beautify our grounds!

DRAW: Disaster Relief at Work (Team Purple)

Mormon Helping Hands (Team Yellow)

Mormon Helping Hands (Team Yellow)

The Bean Family working with Mormon Helping Hands
(Justin, Shawn, Gordon, Shauna, Erin, & Jourdon)

Friday morning was filled with a bunch of "end of year" procedures and clean-up which are part of our usual duties as teachers.  However, no computer network, internet, e-mail, or grade-book access complicated much of this [smile].  I did get as much packed and cleaned up as possible, which included boxing up LOTS of textbooks as this is the end of the adoption cycle for Social Studies textbooks.

The remainder of the day involved some relief/outreach projects which actually began getting planned on Tuesday.  While I was at Norman High School on Tuesday (see Tornado: Part Two) I began receiving some text messages from a friend and colleague with Union Public Schools (Tulsa area).  Philippa Kelly and I have gotten to know each other over the past several years as teachers of AP Human Geography and this relationship has grown since I began my involvement with Student Council.  Philippa is currently the director/coordinator of all student activities at Union High School.  She was contacting me so serve as a local coordinator for delivery of a host of items being donated as part of a relief drive in Union P.S.  We texted and called each other over the next few days and Friday afternoon was the time we scheduled for delivery.

I met up with Philippa and Eli Huff, one of her colleagues from Union, before their arrival to First Baptist Church in Moore.  Due to the interstate route they were planning, along with FBC already being a primary donation drop-off point, we had decided to make the drop here.  As we pulled in to the unloading area we were informed that they did not need anymore bottled water as their supply was already too large so we verbally mentioned that we would take it on down to Southmoore.  As they heard us talking about going to another relief center they asked if we could take more water and some clothing and stuffed animals with us.  Philippa and Eli agreed.  So after unloading many other supplies, including personal hygiene products, baby diapers, and baby formula we took on our agreed upon load.

We then began the navigation process toward Southmoore.  Due to repair to electric lines and other utilities, some of the main roads which had become open following the clearing of major debris were now re-closed. So the route was a major weaving around.  Somehow we ended up driving west 4th Street between Sunnylane and Eastern Avenue and then south on Eastern Avenue toward 19th Street...the heart of much of the devastation which occurred east of I-35.  While not the best route for trying to get to Southmoore rapidly it ended up being an important visual image to all three of us on the importance of the relief work that Union P.S. (and so many other schools and organizations around) were doing.

Union Public Schools' Eli Huff & Philippa Kelly

In a mad dash of unloading items into Southmoore, the representatives from the Moore Council PTA who were overseeing the SHS based relief center were just amazing by the efforts of Union's power team to not only bring items for relief, but to also help shuffle items from one relief center to another.  Members of those yellow clad "Mormon Helping Hands" also helped to unload the supply van.  Philippa and Eli had to leave all too soon so as to get the borrowed van back to Tulsa on time.

I continue to be so blessed by ALL of the various groups who are actively providing their love and support.  I've received so many messages contacting me: from Broken Arrow, OK, to Nevada, to Utah, and even to an agriculture education team at a school in Texas who were concerned about meeting the needs of the animals in Moore's ag. ed. program.  SIMPLY OVERWHELMED WITH BLESSING!!

Tornado: Part Four

Thursday was the first day we were allowed to get back into our schools.  The district had arranged for each school to have an "open house" from 10:00-12:00 so that students could return to get their personal items, return textbooks, and see their friends.  Special arrangements were worked out for the students, teachers, and staff from Briarwood and Plaza Towers elementary schools to meet at either Wayland Bonds or Eastlake elementaries.

Throughout the evening before and early Thursday morning I received a variety of questions through a couple of Facebook pages and tweet accounts I operate for school business regarding how to get to Southmoore with roads being closed.  The only way that anyone would be able to get to Southmoore would be to find some eastern or western route to get south of the school and then to travel north on Santa Fe.

Southmoore is a ALIVE and WELL

Teachers arrived at 9:00 for a local faculty meeting.  While most of us had seen each other at yesterday's district-wide faculty meeting, as well as during our school specific break-out meeting, it was still a significant time of encouragement for each other.  One of our staff members lost her son at Plaza Tower.  Seven of our teachers/staff members had their homes totally destroyed and/or significantly damaged and many others had close family members impacted.  We talked about issues with getting final grades posted, especially since the district's internet connections and phone lines were still down.  A link to use at home was provided on Wednesday but many were having issues with it; some troubleshooting ideas were shared.

Faculty meeting in Southmoore media center

Then we were dismissed to greet our students!! This time started out with me being in my classroom.  Anita, the PTSA & Band mom I discussed in "Tornado: Part Three", and her son Timothy stopped by.  I gave them each big hugs to reassure them that we were there to support them and love them.  A couple of other students stopped by in the early minutes of this "open house" time and then an announcement was made over the intercom system.  A study initiated and student led prayer circle was being held in our commons area and everyone was invited to attend.  As I was heading out of my classroom, one of my Buddhist students commented the guessed he would go to the prayer circle even though he wasn't a Christian.  I smiled and reminded him that God hears prayers from people of all faiths.  He smiled in return and you could tell this was more about embracing a sense of unity and community among the students so impacted by this horrible event than it was about promoting any form of religious dogma.

Due to the small number of students who had come by my room I was totally caught off guard by how many students had already begun circling around the commons for this prayer circle.  Teachers, staff, and parents began coming out of the hallways to join them.  Due to the size of the space and the vast quantity of people, the student who had been selected to lead the large public prayer opted to return to the office so as to speak over the intercom.  It truly was a moment about community spirit!

Since most of the students were now downstairs and in the commons, that is where I remained for the rest of the "open house" time.  I stood near a central table so that student had a centralized location for turning in textbooks even if they couldn't find their specific teacher. "Don't worry, we'll get it checked in for you".  Also, as I saw students from my specific classes I let them know that today I had a policy of "Everyone Gets a Hug", a it seemed like they all wanted one too.  You could tell that their spirits were so shaken by the events earlier in the week that this ability to see friends and teachers along with hugs and other expressions of encouragement were exactly what they needed.  And I have to admit that I needed it too.  Afterall, during the chaos of Monday I was only with one group of my students.  Today allowed me to visually see nearly all of my students so as to truly know that they were safe.

Kari, Marrisa, Lyndsey, Sarah, Mr. Burton, Hunter, & Michaela

Griffin, Daniel, Nhi, Sungwon, Bao, Mr. Burton, Peter,
Lynn, Monica, Sang, Bryan, Maddie, & Anco

An additional special moment which helped to give a sense of normalcy to being at Southmoore was when students from our band's drumline lined up on the landing of our grand staircase to perform several drum chants.  At various times throughout the year we have drumline in between Fifth and Sixth periods as a mini-pep rally before a big football or basketball game or to help encourage a team heading off to a state tournament.  Drumline today helped to show that WE ARE SOUTHMOORE and our spirit is not broken!

Drumline

Tornado: Part Three

Let's just say that Wednesday brought several moments of personal encouragement for me personally.

It actually started on Tuesday evening when a friend...a mother of one of Southmoore's sophomores (he'll be in my class next year), a PTSA mom, a band mom, a wonderful substitute teacher, etc... and, unfortunately a victim of Monday's tornado, tagged me in a Facebook message linked to a picture.  The picture was of a sweet hand-written note which had been placed inside of a boxed meal which was given to her by volunteers with the disaster relief team from my home church (Crossings Community Church).  Anita knew that I attend Crossings and wanted to reach out to express thanks in the only way she knew how.  I, in turn, shared that picture and the story of the family who benefited and how they were connected to me with my church and it further inspired their work.

Wednesday morning, I reached out to my church again.  I had begun learning of another need for the families of the Southmoore community, especially from faculty members.  One of the immediate needs was to have a way to get as many personal items removed from their damaged/destroyed homes before continued rain feel and ruined more of those things which could currently be salvaged.  I simply asked the church if they had a source for moving boxes.  I actually went up to the church late morning to visit with our missions outreach pastors to make arrangements for getting the boxes into the hands of those in need.

While at Crossings I was able to witness in person the beautiful faces of volunteers who had shown up for day two of making boxed meals.  It was so well organized and brought tears to my eyes.  I began to show the various volunteers a picture on my phone of the note that had fallen into Anita's hands the day before.  I wanted them to know that their work had meaning and that so many truly families in need were benefiting from what might be seen as a simply act of love.

assembling the sandwiches

sandwiches, chips, pickle spear, and cookies into the boxes

hand writing words of encouragement and love

  

placing the notes into the boxes

closing up the boxes

In the mid-afternoon I, along with countless other faculty members from Moore Public Schools attended a special district-wide faculty and staff meeting hosted at Southern Hills Baptist Church.  The messages of hope, encouragement and resiliency were so meaningful to those in attendance and they helped begin the healing process for those of us with the vocational calling to educate and safe guard our children.  During the meeting I "live-tweeted" notes and so I'll re-post them here as the summary for this meaningful time:

• At request of MPS admin, pastor of Southern Hills Bapt. opens meeting with prayer & reading of 23rd Psalm #Moore #tornado
• Standing ovation for MPS Superintendent Susie Pierce. Such a grace-filled lady!!! #Moore #tornado
• In prep for retirement speech Supt Piece reflected on times of struggle as they helped build the relationships which she treasures
• Beautiful & tear filled standing ovations for Briarwood & Plaza Towers faculties. "Hugs" to rescue workers!!!
• Introduction of admin from Joplin, MO to help provide help. #Moore #tornado
• Briarwood & Plaza Towers destroyed. Highland East Jr High gym destroyed. ASC damaged. Tech Center destroyed but servers saved!!! TY Dell
• Reading of names of 7 children who died at Plaza Towers. TY to Jennifer Doan for efforts to save them; prayers for recovery. #Moore
• Information about gatherings at schools on Thursday. All 3 graduations as scheduled. TY to Stanley's Grad Service for donated robes.
• ASC will be temporarily relocated to Moore High's media center #moore #tornado
• Grief counseling information will be made available for all students, teachers, administration. Details coming ASAP
• Looking for donation of 3000 t-shirts that say "We Are Moore Public Schools" for our teachers to proudly wear!! #moore #tornado
• We stay because that's who we are. Some call us stubborn by Supt Pierce believes it is our tenacity and love of what we do.
• Supt Pierce turned it over to new Supt Dr Robert Romines. He is glad he is "not alone" because he knows we are all a team. #moore #tornado
• Supt Romines "Briarwood & Plaza... WE ARE GOING TO REBUILD" & then loud applause!!!
• "Our maintenance teams are working like dogs. Thank them!" from Supt Romines
• "Your former superintendent, Ms. Pierce, is the rock that I've needed. She's my mom at work" from Supt Romines
• "Don't let anyone ask you to second guess your efforts at school on that day!!!" encouragement from Supt Romines #moore #tornado
• As Supt Romines got to Plaza Towers, Principal Amy Simpson crawled out of twisted metal (gym) smiling; encouragement to discouraged admin
• State Superintendent @JanetBarresi offering encouragement to our MPS family. @GovMaryFallin wants us at Sunday PM service 6:00 at FBC Moore
• State Supt @JanetBarresi "Give a list of your needs, paper, pens, SmartBoards, etc, because we're going shopping!!!"
• State Supt @Janet Barresi "Moore [Schools] is setting a standard of resilience for the whole country...your kids know they are safe with you"
• Supt Romines in front of Supt Pierce, Supt @JanetBarresi, & MPS admin team "it takes a village, all of us"

MPS teachers gathering in Southern Hills' sanctuary

Supt. Susie Pierce (on stage in lower left; on screen in upper right)

Supt. Janet Barresi on big screen; Joplin, MO admin seated in choir loft

Supt. Robert Romines on the main floor
Supt. Pierce, Supt Barresi, Board of Education, & Administrative Team on stage

I was then able to spend about an hour visiting with Donna, the teacher at Briarwood & mother of Sarah who I mentioned texting in "Tornado: Part One".  I wanted to do everything I could to be an encouragement to her, especially as I learned true nature of the damage of her home.  I also put into her hands 20 large plastic tubs to help pack & store she and Sarah's possessions while they go through a rebuilding process.

The spiritual highlight of the evening for me was a prayer service held at Crossings.  Regular Wednesday evening activities were canceled so as to come together as a church family to pray for our community and leaders who will help guide as we go forward and rebuild.

Crossings Community Church's Senior Pastor: Marty Grubs

One of the songs during the service really spoke to me; I was not previously acquainted with this song but its powerful words are so apropos for the events connected with the tornado:

While I know that I have a long road of healing for my spirit, I know that with each passing day I am becoming more and more encouraged and better equipped to be who I need to be to help those who were more directly impacted by this disaster.

Tornado: Part Two

Shortly after 5:30 on "that day", my cell phone obtained enough reception to receive a text message from Dawn Brockman, the sponsor of the Student Congress at Norman High School (community immediately to the south of Moore/SW OKC).  She reached out to me due to our connections with Student Council activities in Oklahoma (we've also previously worked together at Moore High School several years ago).  Her message was that her students were already putting in to place an action plan to provide donations to help provide relief for the family of my Southmoore students/families.  Their donation blitz was being RAPIDLY organized for Tuesday, May 21st.

Much of the rapid nature of their activities was due to social networking, especially a twitter account which they had created for a previous charitable outreach program: @tigerpalooza.

In that Moore Public Schools were obviously going to be closed on Tuesday, I made the decision to drive down to Norman High to help Dawn and her students in anyway I could.  You'll notice that I underlined the word "organized" above.  When I walked in to Dawn's classroom at approximately 9:30 Tuesday morning I can't even try to describe how well organized their process was:

• Gently used clothing was being sorted in multiple phases: 1) into what was legitimately appropriate to donate to families in need, you might call it quality control, 2) into gender appropriate items, 3) into type of clothing like pants, t-shirts, nicer shirts, coats, 4) into sizes.  Then the sort items were placed with like items into boxes and labeled (i.e. "women's medium t-shirts")
• Diapers, wet wipes, paper towels, toilet paper, and various hygiene products were taken and sort in a classroom next door.
• Bottles of water and a variety of sports drinks were being staged in a classroom across the hall

Delivery was scheduled for early that afternoon.  Since the current students would not be allowed to drive vehicles or otherwise help deliver to items to relief sites due to legal liabilities, the organizing team had galvanized their alumni base, many of whom live in this University of Oklahoma community, to assist with delivery.  I was blown away by the number of alum volunteers who showed up to help.

In all actuality, this WHOLE organized effort blew me away.  I had gone to help them work, but it was clear any work I would add would just be me getting in their way.  So I stayed back, took pictures, and tried to be an encouragement to them in their efforts to be an encouragement to my students and the community of my school.  Below are some pictures of this efforts: