Tornado: Part Six

Thus far I have had an opportunity to go in to the interior of the devastated areas so as to help clean the rubble of two family's homes.  One of the families, Brad and Tiffany and their children, includes one of our teachers at Southmoore.  The other family, Donna and Sarah, includes one of my students and her mother who has become a good friend.  While I had heard stories about the damage at these two homes, it truly broke my heart to see the devastation.

In both cases, the families had been told that they needed to get the rubble as close to the curb as possible; this included each and every brick fragment.  At Brad and Tiffiany's home in Moore it was their understanding that everything but the slab had to be cleared out.  At Donna and Sarah's home in south Oklahoma City they were told that anything outside of the remaining structure had to be cleared out.  I'm not sure if the difference in the two cases was because of differing city government policies or the overall nature of the damage.  While still classified as a total loss due to holes in walls & the roof, the separation of the roof from the house, the rotation of the house on the foundation, and then the complications of continued rain and water damage throughout the house, the house in Oklahoma City only had to have the external debris removed.  The house in Moore had no roof and the only walls still "standing" was a corner of the kitchen, the bathroom and "parts" of two bedrooms.

The one major common bond in each of these situations was the large number of people who had come out to help clean the rubble.  Due to other commitments, I wasn't able to help out much more than hour at Brad and Tiffany's.  But to be honest, the mammoth number of people who showed up to help remove the debris and remaining house structure was so large that I actually felt in the way at times (this is a good thing...the overwhelming volunteer spirit of Oklahomans and our fellow Americans).  Additionally, the spirit of fellowship that emerges when people work side-by-side in a common goal is simply amazing.  I throughoughly loved the human chain we made at Donna and Sarah's house to help move the chunks of debris from the sides of the house out to the curb.  Each chunk passing through the hands of each of us heading off to a pile which the city would later collect.

In truth, I'm not sure how much physical help I was in either case.  But these are two families that I love and respect and I'm honored that they let me provide whatever simplistic service I could.

Brad & Tiffany's kitchen

Brad & Tiffany's backyard & neighborhood

OSU & USA flags: Brad & Tiffany's symbols of perseverance & hope 

All of the volunteers at Brad & Tiffany's house

Donna & Sarah's garage
(you can see the storm shelter opening in the garage floor...
but Donna was at Briarwood & Sarah was at Southmoore)

Donna & Sarah's patio

New skylight in Donna & Sarah's house

Collapsed wall, garage, second floor damage at Donna & Sarah's house

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!!

Reading for Your Travels

As summer time approaches, many people begin thinking about 1) a summer reading list and 2) a vacation get away.  Sometimes it's good to read up on a place that you're planning to visit.  Additionally, if you're not able to physically get away but you have the chance to read why not grab a book about a location you're potentially interested in visiting someday?

I recently came into contact with this great website which provides a recommended reading list for a wide variety of destinations (thank you to my "Seoul Sister" Julie Wakefield).  Regardless of whether the travels you're actually taking (or the ones you're thinking about) are domestic U.S. or something more international, you'll find some suggestions at "Longitude: Books, Recommended for Travelers".

Happy reading to you!
Happy travels to you!
And, hopefully, happy reading AND travels to you!
Whether in person or via the words of others may you enjoy you escape along the roads of lands remote!!!

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:

Tornado: Part One

So many thoughts this week...I guess I should start chronicling them before I forget.

Southmoore High School with the EF5 tornado in the background
(photo is a screen shot taken from storm chaser raw video)

Monday, May 20, 2013 was, for the most part, just like so many other days at school.  Sure we were gearing up for our final week.  Scholarship & Awards ceremonies as well as STUCO's annual Black Light show were the previous week.  State End-of-Instruction (EOI) exams and AP testing were over.  Southmoore had even held its first graduation practice of the season.  This day was the start of the home stretch for finals and the last day.

As so often occurs during mid-April to the end of May, inclement weather forecasts were made; forecasts which included a chance for storms that could produce a tornado.  This is normal, and while we take such forecasts seriously we must still live our day-to-day lives.

• First period AP US History: finishing up our post-exam movie (with written assignment) "Thirteen Days" (Cuban Missile Crisis)
• Second period AP Human Geography: debrief on free response questions from Friday's big AP exam overseen by the College Board
• Third period planning hour: working on textbook inventory & boxing up of more books, plus a mad-dash to grab lunch (Qdoba & "taco Monday")
• Fourth period planning hour: special meeting for training on a new video-based announcement system (TV monitors are the Senior Gift from the Class of 2013)
• Lunch
• Fifth period AP US History: repeat from 1st period
• Sixth period AP Human Geography: repeat from 2 period...OR SO I THOUGHT

Part way through the period, and interrupting our free response question debrief, administration came over the intercom and mentioned that due to an approaching storm and the continued/updated forecasts throughout the day we were to report to our severe weather reporting rooms.  So the students in my 2nd floor outside wall classroom and myself proceeded to move downstairs to the interior classroom to which we are assigned.  We joined 2 other classes (the hosting science class and a re-routed math class).  Not truly knowing the severity of the storm the kids were visiting and laughing among themselves.  Some grabbed their cell phones and then began saying things to use three teachers about "um, maybe this is worse than we think".

The host teacher pulled up a live news feed from one of our local news stations and we began watching the reports.  There was a storm west of us that looked ripe for creating a tornado, but the current track of that storm was suggesting a route much further north than us.  And then we noticed on the radar image a "hook" that was forming.  We three teachers began having students move the science lab tables away from the interior walls to provide enough room for all of the students to sit down along the walls and built in cabinets.  An announcement come on letting us know that reports indicated a small tornado was about to drop from that "hook"...we could see this on the live news feed (storm chasers just love Oklahoma).

But this "hook" on the radar and the tornado we were seeing in the live feed didn't seem to be moving in the same northeasterly path of much of the rest of the storm and predicted tracking.  During much of this time I had my walkie-talkie two-way radio turned on to hear the "chatter" from the administrators with each other (I'm one of the check-in captains for fire-drills and for some reason I grabbed this device as we evacuated from upstairs today).  I heard one of the principals say something about seeing the tornado, it being big, and it heading in our general direction.

The three teachers decided that maybe we needed a bit more protection in the event that the tornado did make contact with our school, so we quickly organized a re-moving of the lab tables back into the area of the room along side the interior wall and had all of the students crawl under.  By this time two-families who had come inside of the building near our main office were routed to join our classroom...they joined us under the tables.  Within less than a minute of getting everyone under the tables the power went out.  This interior room was pitch black.  Back-up generators allowed some emergency lights in the hallways and also our intercom system to come back on.  An announcement was made that everyone should take cover.

And then...waiting, waiting, waiting.  I could feel the panic in my students's voices.  I had already sensed some uneasiness in their eyes as we started moving the tables.  While I felt safe that the design of this building would provide protection for us I also knew that "you never know".  Waiting, waiting, waiting...after about 15 minutes, an announcement was made that the administration thought the storm and tornado had passed us, but due to things being dark to please stay in our holding rooms.  Students crawled out from under the tables.  Some started checking their phones, texting friends and parents, "any news", "what happened", but most of these messages didn't make it initially due to 1) the interior nature of the room on the 1st floor and 2) as we would later learn, significant damage to power lines outside.  I stepped into the hall to try and get a better reception on the two-way to see if I could hear anything from admin...but no.  With no power, the signal boosters spaced throughout the building were not working.  A few other teachers, began to emerge from their rooms and a teacher at the end of the hallway could see out the glass doors into the neighborhood adjacent to our school.  A trampoline was upside down on a house's roof; debris was all over the ground.

Being in the hall, various teachers began to receive a few simplistic text messages.  I heard one comment "Briarwood is gone".  My heart sank.  The mother of one of my students still in the darkness of that room I had just stepped out of is a teacher at Briarwood; we've become friends during the two years I've had her daughter in class.  I rapidly fired off a text to her "U ok? I've heard b wood hit??" and then moments later another "Safe?"  That was at 3:54 PM.  School should have been out at 3:02.  I wasn't hearing back from this friend/mother.  I knew she would be addressing needs at Briarwood, but as time passed without a response my stomach started knotting up.  I knew I couldn't say anything to my student since I didn't know anything for sure; I didn't want to worry her if not needed.

About 20 minutes later a simple three letter text arrived "Yes", followed by another "Yes".  I don't know if the lack of connectivity caused a duplicate message or if the first meant to respond to "b wood" being hit and the second about her safety.

We had been in refuge for almost 2 hours and students needed to use the restroom.  So one of the two teachers with me walked 2 young ladies to the end of the hallway near our centrally located "commons area" to let them use the faculty restroom...it was still pitch black in there.  After several rotations, my student finally showed up at the door for a turn and I whispered to her that he mom was ok.  She had heard other kids mentioning that they thought Briarwood had been hit, but that news confirmed that not only was it true but that it could have killed her mom.  I could tell she was so relieved and she hugged me.

Students were not allowed to leave unless a parent showed up to check them out.  Announcements were made calling for kids by name to come to the office.  Eventually one of my students had her name called.  All others were to remain in these darkened rooms.  Eventually the administration realized that with no electricity that these rooms were getting very warm due to no air conditioning.  Instructions were made that students could step out into the hall but to stay in the area of this room.  As students began to step out my phone rang.   My Aunt Margaret in Baton Rouge was calling.  Instantly, I knew this tornado was BAD if out of state family was already trying to reach me; it meant national news was already reporting the disaster.  The connection was so poor that all I could hear was her voice "David, hello, hello, David?".  As I hung up, I gathered the remaining members of my class together in the hallway.  I tried to offer words of comfort.  I texted the mother again: "Sarah is under my watchful eye" and a few moments later a "Thank you" appeared.

After principals began finding ways of communicating with the outside world and contacted district level administrators on how best to proceed a decision was made to escort all of our remaining students to our gymnasium so as to use that area as a better way to connect students with parents who would make it up to check them out.  This process would last hours....HOURS.  It was about 5:30 when this process started...as the numbers dwindled, different teachers would start to leave to head home (especially to check on their homes/families if they lived near the tornado's path.  Since I am single, have no children (I knew my dog would be safe with her water, food, and indoor potty pad), and I live comfortably outside of this area of the city I stayed...and stayed.  Throughout the evening at various points my cell phone would make a connection (our gym is very bad for cell reception) and I'd get 6 or 7 messages at once.  Counts less friends and family members..."David are you ok?", "Are you still at Southmoore", etc.  I felt horrible at only preparing simple one word answers "yes" and then hitting send.  The reception was so poor that I'd often have to try sending each "yes" 4 or 5 times.  I would later apologize to my friends/family if the simple one word replies came off as rude and dismissive...EVERYONE said that they totally understood; I was busy with the kids...I was safe.

About 8:30, a caravan of police showed up to evacuate our remaining students to a shelter that had been set up.  A school bus sitting outside was to be used along with the vacant police car seats.  About 60 kids could be transported at once.  By this point, our 2000+ student population had now dwindled to just over 100...the process had taken so long because the roads were so blocked that parents couldn't get to the school to pick up their students (not for a lack of trying).  With about 45 kids remaining, and enough other teachers/principals to watch over I did make my exit.

By now we had received enough information for me to know that going north from our school to head to the interstate to get across town to my house wasn't going to work.  I'd have to go south (how far was still uncertain), go way east or west (because reports were that both I-44 to my west and I-35 to my east were totally shut down), before turning north to get to I-40 and reconnect with my normal route from there.  It took me 90 minutes to drive 3 miles south of Southmoore.  Voice mails rang in during that time (14 missed calls with worried voices..."Are you ok?"...including another Louisiana Aunt (Katherine).  I returned Aunt Katherine's call and we chatted very briefly before I lost the signal.  But at least that portion of the family knew I was safe.  That 90 minute drive connected me with I-35 and surprisingly it was open so I risked it and got on.  While the traffic flow did slow down through the mile section where the tornado crossed the interstate, it only took me a total of 30 minutes to get home from the point were I got on I-35.  For caparison, my daily route home-to-Southmoore (or reverse) is about 25 minutes).

It was late; I hugged my dog and texted my mother "Home".  Responded to as many Facebook & twitter comments about my safety and then I went to bed.  I'm not sure how fast I drifted to sleep, but I know it was fast.  I'm still not sure how I've been able to sleep so soundly each night in light of this whole ordeal.

I'll be sharing more "parts" to this week's story later.  It's now late on Friday night (truly Saturday morning) and I need to get to sleep...graduation is tomorrow!!!

Some remote roads can bring us such joy and peace, and who knows what this one may ultimately bring in the way of life lessons and the setting of goals for the future.  But one thing I do know is that I am so thankful a disaster like the one which impacted the community of my students/school is a rare remote road.

The Fine Line

Life is full of "fine lines" which help to give us an guiding compass and distinguish between the good and the bad, the safe and the dangerous, the appropriate and the inappropriate, the moral and the immoral, the just and the unjust, etc.  This fine line is [or should be] much easier for adults to grasp than for children simply due to our life experiences.  I do admit that because of a variety of cultural, political, religious, philosophical, etc. perspectives we might not all agree on "where" a particular "line" is, but I do believe that we all would agree that a "line" does exist   We know that if you get to close too the "line" (whatever it may be) you risk crossing over into that territory where you truly don't want to be.  As such, shouldn't caring adults, whether they be parents or other close family members, teacher, clergy, etc., want to help children keep from getting too close to that "line"?  I am troubled today because I witnessed a parent who went to great lengths to facilitate and defend his/her child in crossing a "line" and then verbally belittling the other caring adults who were holding firm to the nature of this "line".

If we as a society collectively start ignoring the "fine lines" it will lead to chaos and, ultimately, the destruction of our society.  I'm welcome our respectful discussions on determining "where" the "line" should be, but actively seeking to destroy the "line" and the protection that such a "line" helps provide is NOT a remote road down which I would enjoy traveling.

South Korea is a "GO-GO"!

Just over 13 months ago I wrote about some disappointing news regarding a teacher trip to South Korea (see "South Korea is a 'no-go'" from March 2012).  Well, that disappointment is no more!

Yesterday I received word that my application for the 2013 trip with the Korea Society has been approved AND there are no conflicts the rest of my summer schedule!  I'm so excited to be able to return to South Korea; this trip will allow me to stay longer and travel throughout more of the country than did my previous experience.

To make the news even more wonderful, last night I learned that two friendships I made on previous teacher-focused trips will be rekindled on this trip.  Robin Manning, who I met on my November 2009 trip to South Korea, and Arlis Groves, who I met as part of the year-long TGC program & July 2012 trip to Indonesia, have each also been accepted into this program with the Korea Society!!

Due to some pre-trip reading and research requirements, I'm sure I'll be posting about my efforts at roaming the roads of lands remote before my flight even lifts off in late June.  I hope you'll follow this journey with me.

When I think of "Agriculture"...

Today, my AP Human Geography began our unit on Agriculture and Rural Use of Land.  To help "inspire" them to begin thinking about that which is connected to agriculture, I showed a couple of music videos from the employees of Peterson Farm and Livestock in Assaria, Kansas.  These videos parody songs from pop culture and yet give a very pro-agriculture message.

"I'm Farming and I Grow It" (parody of "I'm Sexy and I Know It")

"Farming Style" (parody of "Gangnam Style")

We followed this up with each student responding, via polleverywhere.com, to the prompt "When I think of "agriculture", I think of ...".  Students were asked to respond with a minimum number of terms or phrases.  Here is a word cloud (generated at wordle.net) of their responses.

I know that most of my students' responses link to stereotypes based on where they live (country and region in country).  As we study this unit, a remote road for most of my suburban kids, I hope that they are able to understand how agriculture encompasses so much more than the farms of "middle America".  This could be fun!

"Pho - nomenal" on my blog Explorer? YES! Glutton? NO!

I've started another blog focused on food and cultural based culinary arts.  Here's a recent entry:

"Pho - nomenal" on my blog Explorer? YES! Glutton? NO!: A cultural delight has developed in the heart of one of Oklahoma City's historic neighborhoods.  Beginning in the 1970s and continuing int...

Indonesia Continues ...

In 2009, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Seoul, South Korea for a symposium between American and Korean teachers.  I've stayed in touch with many of the American teachers I met and about a year ago I encouraged each of them to apply for the 2012-2013 cylce of Teacher for Global Classrooms.  Two of them were accepted!! And of those, one has been assigned to go to Indonesia.

What has made this extra special for me is that Julie (my Seoul Sista' heading to Indonesia) invited me to participate within a Facebook group specifically designed for her TGC cohort.  The other members know that I'm not going with them, but have been very eager to ask questions ... some that I can answer and others that I just don't know, LOL.

I feel so honored to be "going through this process again" but from a different perspective.  So, while doing something familiar (prepping for an adventure to Indonesia) I'm also roaming another remote road (prepping to help OTHERS enjoy the Indonesia adventure rather than myself).  I'm just as excited about following their travel blogs as I was for the other country cohorts within my own larger team.

TGC Indonesia 2012-2013 ... I'm with you all in heart and spirit! (and if you want to smuggle me in a suitcase, I'm game for that too, HAHA).

New Year: Resolutions or Mission Statements?

A few nights ago I was at a dinner party (for my 36 birthday) when a discussion of New Year's Resolutions came up.  Our hostess commented that she had her husband had opted to create a New Year's Mission Statement rather than resolutions.

I am highly intrigued by this idea!  A mission statement is a statement of purpose, an over arching goal, and/or a guide for decision making.  Rather than making a few trite "pledges" what about giving our lives an over arching mission or purpose and then making conscious choices of behavior to fulfill that mission.

This sort of reminds me of the "What Would Jesus Do?" movement in the 1990s which was, interestingly, based on a book (In His Steps) written @100 years before.  I think much of the 1990s movement ended up being more about people wanting to look cool by wearing a little WWJD bracelet rather than legitimately seeking to create and live by an actual mission statement.

The school were I teach also has a mission statement:

Southmoore High School, in partnership with parents and community, is dedicated to developing a tradition of excellence by providing support, time, and resources necessary to grow an exception academic and extracurricular curricular program that empowers all students to realize their unique potential and emerge as lifelong learners who are responsible members of society.

 

While I think this is a great statement of purpose, I wonder if it's length makes it too unrealistic for every staff member in our building to consciously think of this "mission" when making decisions pertaining to lesson plans, discipline policies, reading lists, technology usage, athletic team lineups, community outreach programs, etc., etc., etc.  Since the opening of our school in 2008 and the creation of this mission statement have developed a motto which seems to provide an easier to remember overarching purpose: "CATS: Creating Avenues to Success".

Prior to the party, I had not yet developed a "resolution" and now I find myself desiring a "mission statement" for the year.  I'm just not sure what it should be.  Should it be something broad enough to try and encompass all aspects of my life or should I have one more smaller scale that focuses on social relationships or professional/career activities?  Do you have any suggestions?  What would be your mission statement for 2013 if you were to create one?

I'll try to settle on a mission statement within a few days and then I'll return to post it.  No matter which direction my mission goes, no matter how broad or how specific, I'm sure it will continue to enable to me explore the unknown and/or unfamiliar as I further endeavor to roam the roads of lands remote.

To my students...

By now I'm sure that most of you have heard about the events which occurred yesterday at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut.  I'm sure that like most of us, your minds are racing with all kinds of questions on a variety of social, political, religious, and possibly even economic topics which are related to the events of yesterday.  Having such questions, having emotional reactions, are natural and you should not be discouraged from having them.

My purpose in writing to you today is to let each and everyone of you know that I love you.  I value each of you as a special gift that God gave to this world and that has been entrusted into my educational care for a brief period of your life.  I may not always be happy with your performance in class, your less than stellar behavior, or the fact that you sometimes don't realize your own potential for life.  However, I will always love you.  Even if I get aggravated at times, I will always love you and I pray daily for you to obtain the best that life has to offer.

While you are under my care and watchful eye, this love for you compels me to unquestionablly seek your protection from harm.  I will do my best to make sure that while you are in school, especially within my classroom, that you are safe.  And if need be, I would even put myself in harm's way to help save you ... each of you.

So even while you think of yesterday's events, while you see the images, while you express your emotions, know that you will be as safe as I can possibly make you while you are in my care.

Also ... do your homework this weekend <wink>.  After all, APHuG has the multiple choice portion of their Unit Three Test (Cultural Geography) and APUSH has the essay portion of their Unit Six Test (Civil War and Reconstruction).

See you Monday!!