BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. -- Some kids got out of their cars dazed but smiling, others rushed into teachers' arms, the hugs long and teary. Nearby, Principal Frances Weiler watched, dabbing her eyes as children finally came back to North Bay Elementary School.
It was a back-to-school day like no other in the Bay St. Louis-Waveland School District on Monday as hundreds of children from kindergarten through 12th grade returned to the classroom more than two months after Hurricane Katrina cut through the heart of the Hancock County towns.
Click "play" to hear North Bay Elementary School students and teachers during their first day of class since Hurricane Katrina. (John Brecher / MSNBC.com)
“I am so happy,” Weiler said, as she accepted congratulations and hugged teachers and parents. “I’m just so happy to see the children.”
At North Bay, children came back to a series of prefabricated modules, linked by a wooden boardwalk that keeps them out of the gravel and mud that still surrounds the grounds. The stark, white classrooms are fitted with the basics, including chalkboards, textbooks and some writing materials.
In the distance, the hulk of the old school, swamped by the enormous storm surge, awaits demolition.
Sign of hope
For the towns, the resumption of school –- kids had three weeks of class before Katrina struck –- represents a landmark in the recovery process.
“People see this as a sign of hope,” Bay St. Louis Mayor Eddie Favre said. “They are getting a bit more normalcy in their lives.”
Favre, as well as officials from FEMA, the Corps of Engineers and local and state agencies were on hand for the ribbon-cutting.
Read previous post about the school system's rebuilding effortThe emotional outpouring underscored how far Bay St. Louis and Waveland have come since Katrina struck, destroying hundreds of homes, sending families fleeing to neighboring counties and states for shelter.
It also offered the first hard numbers on the hurricane's impact on the population of the towns, which had a total of about 15,000 residents before the storm.
According to schools Superintendent Dr. Kim Stasny, only 39 percent of children returned to classes on Monday, a bit below her predictions of around 40 to 50 percent of the 2,300 in the district.
'It's going to get better'
“It’s going to get better,” she said. “More kids are going to start coming back.”
For teachers and parents, it was a day to rejoice and forget their troubles, at least for a few hours.
“It doesn’t matter if we have one or 300 (students),” said third-grade teacher Tammy Raymond, as she waited for the kids. “We don’t care, we’re going to have them and we’re going to teach them and we’re going to love them.”
Raymond attended North Bay, graduated from the district's Bay High School in 1989, and started teaching in her old elementary school in 1995.
She now lives in a FEMA trailer, and worries whether she can stay maintain her strength if the children become distraught over their hurricane experiences.
“I’m excited and a little nervous about what they are going to say, how they are going to react, how I’m going to be strong,” she said.
Introductions and discussion
With only 14 of the 31 second-grade students back in their shared classroom, teachers Gretchen Darby and Leslie Brown started by getting the children to introduce themselves and writing their names on the chalkboard. Later they planned to read a book about a hurricane experience as an opening to discuss Katrina.
Darby’s home was destroyed and she’s staying with family members as she and her husband figure out what to do next.
She appreciates the opportunity to work again. “This brings some stability, some routine. I’m glad to see the kids,” she said.
For parent Ellen Hoffmann, the day is like no other.
“It’s a miracle,” she declared as son Joe Joe, 8, returned to North Bay and daughters Alexis, 10, and Adele, 12, went back to two other schools.
The Hoffmans lost everything and just drove back to Bay St. Louis this week. “Our main goal was to get the kids back to their friends, it’s very emotional,” she said.
Hoffman, who lost her job in the town's casino, said it’s often the children who keep her from losing her sanity.
'This is his best day'
As for Joe Joe, “This is his best day,” she said. “If they are here they don’t have to deal with the destruction.”
The lesson of Katrina will be hard to forget. The school district celebrated on Monday, but the long-term prognosis isn’t as cheery.
Stasny, the superintendent, worries about the financial support for the school system. The shrunken tax base may not be able to support the 180 teachers and six schools that serve the two communities.
“Our cash flow is really strapped right now, but as soon as we get reimbursements from FEMA, our insurers, it will improve (in the short term),” she said.
Stasny says the district is contractually obliged to pay its teachers for this school year, but she isn’t sure what will happen after May.
Moreover, the district needs to rebuild the schools, resupply teaching materials and restock its libraries and computer laboratories. More than 750 computers alone were ruined in the storm.
“I’m really concerned about what we’re looking at next year,” she said.
Laundry daze
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It's really great to see that these kids are getting back to school...It gives them hope for the future and brings back some normalcy to their uprooted lives...
If you'd like to help these schools, please feel free to visit my website Generation2b located at www.generation2b.com we are currently gathering school supplies for these area schools, as well as collecting Box Tops for Education to donate to them...
Best Wishes,
JoAnn Bush
Los Angeles, CA
JoAnn Bush, Los Angeles, CA (Sent Nov 7, 2005 2:20:53 PM)
I am really happy that the North Bay kids are back to school. I am a parent of a kid attending Enon Elementary School in Ohio, which adopted North Bay.
Anna Bucy, Enon, Ohio (Sent Nov 7, 2005 3:41:18 PM)
I am glad that the kids and teachers are back at school. May God bless each and everyone of them. I can't imagine how it must feel to have been caught in something so devastating.
Annette Davis, Valdosta Ga. (Sent Nov 7, 2005 3:46:24 PM)
I hope the first day back to school was a great one for all of you there. We were just there from Olathe, Kansas to bring some supplies to Elizabeth at the middle school. We will not forget you and will continue wishing the best for you.
Terry Robins, Olathe, Kansas (Sent Nov 7, 2005 5:19:08 PM)
The National Education Association has offered assistance to several schools that have been hit by these devistating disasters. Go to NEA.org to see what is being done.
Craig Gray, Wichita Kansas (Sent Nov 7, 2005 5:19:46 PM)
How cool your back to School!!!!!!
UNKNOWN NAME,Riverside CA (Sent Nov 7, 2005 5:55:23 PM)
I really feel bad for all the little kids. I live in Olton, TX and I am in the 9th grade. If I could I would do anything for all the people. I am glad they are getting better and I am so sorry for all the people who lost there loved ones.
Crystal,Olton,Texas (Sent Nov 7, 2005 6:00:59 PM)
Reading about such devastation is heart-renching and brings tears to one's eyes. I pray God will be with the teachers & children as they try to rebuild their lives and return to a level of normalcy.
Patricia, Barbados West Indies (Sent Nov 7, 2005 6:40:27 PM)
Congratulations, it may be difficult at times but it can be done. Enjoy the school year as best as possible and may God continue to bless each and every one of you. My prayers are with you.
Cleveland Jones (Sent Nov 7, 2005 6:43:54 PM)
We are so glad to hear that the kids are back in school. We are from Enon, Ohio and adopted your school. The kids are all praying for your school and wish all of you a great school year. We hope that our donations will help you to be a happy school again.
Casey, Eric Sidney and Jake Richards
Enon, Ohio
Richards Family (Sent Nov 7, 2005 6:45:52 PM)
It's good to see the children at North Bay Elementary getting back to a semi normal routine. I am also proud of the kids at Enon Elementary and Hustead Elementary in ohio, for their fundraising efforts to buy equipment for the new classrooms. They raised over $5,000.
Shanda Gaines, Enon, Ohio (Sent Nov 7, 2005 7:13:33 PM)
I'm principal of Enon Elementary and, like the parents above, am very proud of the efforts our families put forth to help those in North Bay Elementary. Today, in support of the North Bay students' return to school, our boys and girls wore blue and gold, North Bay's school colors. To see pictures of our students as they sent their best wishes to the North Bay students, go to: www.greenon.k12.oh.us/enon/photogallery.htm
As the principal said on the video that accompanies the story, you just have to love them and teach them. At this point, the love is equally as important as the teaching.
Good luck, North Bay. We won't forget you. We plan on sustaining our fundraising efforts throughout the year and hope to see you at Christmas-time with a big load of books to help your library get reestablished!
Tammy Carnahan, Enon, Ohio (Sent Nov 7, 2005 8:05:21 PM)
Good Luck! I am a former teacher who wishes I was down there with a child on my lap listening to the class describe all each has been through. You wonderful people will make a huge difference to these families, not just the little ones in your classes, but to the whole familes.
Deborah Moore, Carmel, Indiana (Sent Nov 7, 2005 9:14:13 PM)
Its good to be back in school with friends and teachers. Hopefully, the students and their families will see a better year ahead!
Jacquelyn, Singapore (Sent Nov 7, 2005 11:20:37 PM)
I am so happy to see these schools reopen. My children's school also sent money to the elementary school in Bay St. Louis. I lived through Andrew and my daughter's school had a workbook that psychologists had come up with to help them work through the fears of the hurricane. I hope they are also doing something like this post-Katrina.
Susan Engel, Umatilla, FL (Sent Nov 8, 2005 2:39:15 AM)
I am so pleased that the children are getting back to continue their education after the awful disaster. I hope they are on the right road to gettig on with their lives in a more relaxing and peaceful manner.
Charlene O' Donnell, maghera,ireland (Sent Nov 8, 2005 4:49:05 AM)
I got really excited to hear that school has resumed. YEAH! I can not imagine the heartache these children have endured. God bless you all.
Karen Ballew, Chatsworth, Georgia (Sent Nov 8, 2005 9:25:43 AM)
I am a parent of children attending this school district. They were happy to return but the lunch they served shows they were not prepared. Not even cold sandwiches. They were served crackers, cookies, canned fruit, etc. Both my children came home hungry. I know it is hard but why some company or Red Cross be there with at the least sandwiches.
I am able to feed my kids when they get home, some cannot.
I sent my youngest today with "his" normal full lunch and extra to share. (maybe the parents that can do this should help the others since the lunch was so bad)
Elizabeth, Waveland (Sent Nov 8, 2005 9:26:37 AM)
How does one go about adopting a school? We are a small (180 students k-5)elementary school in southern NH and would very much like to help in any way we can. we raised over $740 for the Red Cross but my students are still wondering what else they can do. If anyone has information for us about how to adopt a school we would really apprectiate it!
Allison, Newfields, NH (Sent Nov 8, 2005 12:00:57 PM)
What a disgrace that our president hasn't adequately managed and actively spearheaded efforts to get this clean up done sooner. Much of the devastation faced by the folks who live in this area is directly related to his incompetance. The recovery in the third world from the tsunami was better managed.
Patricia, Morris County NJ (Sent Nov 8, 2005 12:14:41 PM)
Congrats to EVERYONE at Bay St. Louis, their courage and their commitment to the community - and most of all, these children. It's one thing to witness the destruction, but it is even more moving to be in the midst of the rebuilding.
Heather, Phoenix, Arizona (Sent Nov 8, 2005 12:23:30 PM)
God Bless all the children, teachers and their families. Our prayers are with you. We have never been through a devistation like yours here in Nebraska. Many people in our country still want to help you rebuild. We hope you have a great day today in school.
Judy, Laurel Nebraska (Sent Nov 8, 2005 1:02:17 PM)
What do you need most to keep your school system going?
Gina King, Damascus, MD (Sent Nov 8, 2005 1:47:59 PM)
What good news. Things are and will get better. We all need stucture and school is a wonderful place for these children to be. God bless you all.
Janet Mills-Marvin, Muncie, Indiana (Sent Nov 8, 2005 2:39:49 PM)
I am a parent of children who lived in the bay last year and to hear the stories and struggles of even the little children, It breaks my heart. If people only knew how warm and loving the community was before, maybe you would understand. my heart goes out to the coast, my prayers are with ya'll.
Christina Teague, Nashville, Tn. (Sent Nov 8, 2005 2:43:18 PM)
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