Katrina's Long Reach

I'm checking email in between classes and see one from our principal, that's a forward from someone at Central Office. Looks like the district is getting phone calls from families who have left Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana and are here in town and wanting to enroll their children in school.

We are at least 400-600 miles away from the Gulf Coast.

I have at least two students who've told me that relatives have shown up, with little or nothing, and are staying at their homes. One boy told me that more were coming and they've already ran out of room, and his mom is trying to find them some clothes for them to wear as they're running out. I put him in touch with Guidance and they contacted his mom and we're going to see about having the school help a bit. May seem weird, but as a low-income building, we tend to collect clothing for our students in need. You just never know when someone is going to need some clothing. With a house full of refugees, he's not going to have much of a quiet space to study or do homework, so I asked him to ask his mom if she could drop him off before school in the morning and he could come to my room to work.

Many of our faculty and staff have families who've lost everything and other family members we can't even get a hold of. Student council is going to raise some money next week with their fall dance and many of the teachers are putting coffee cans in their classrooms for the kids to donate their spare change.

Gas is $3.09 here in town and I guess, from what I've heard, that's good. I love my Saturn, but I'd like a hybrid right about now.