Fall 2005, Volume 10 Number 3

Table of Contents

Hurricane Katrina had a devastating effect on students and their schools in Louisiana and Mississippi. According to Department of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings, more than 247,000 public and private school students in Louisiana were displaced, 489 schools closed, and school buildings in at least six parishes were destroyed or damaged as a result of the storm. In Mississippi, more than 125,000 students were forced to leave their schools, 226 schools in 30 districts closed, and almost 30 schools were ruined. These displaced students are enrolling in schools in 25 states around the country with an estimated 60,000 anticipated to enter Texas schools.           

            Hurricane Katrina has affected students and teachers all over the United States as they watched the destruction documented on national television and listened daily to stories of personal loss as a result of the storm. Some students may have questions about hurricanes and their own safety in such a natural disaster. Others may have friends or family who lost their homes, jobs, and schools and perhaps became separated from family members due to the hurricane. In all likelihood, students and teachers living in areas not touched by the hurricane want to take action to help students whose lives and education were disrupted by the storm.  

            For teachers who need to respond to students’ questions about what hurricanes are, their destructive power, how communities can prepare for hurricanes and remain safe, and actions they can take to help hurricane survivors, the American Red Cross offers a valuable resource. Its web site http://www2.redcross.org/disaster/Masters/HurricaneKatrina.html suggests “Talking Points for Educators: In the Aftermath of a Hurricane” and includes lesson plans to teach students how to deal with tragic events and learn more about hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, and other natural disasters. In addition, the web site provides suggestions for ways students and teachers may support children and families they know who lost their homes. It encourages school groups to provide direct assistance to disaster survivors by raising funds to donate to charities, such as the American Red Cross, whose goal is to provide immediate relief to people in need. 

            Another way teachers and students can take action to help Hurricane Katrina survivors is by adopting a school serving students affected by the storm. The U.S. Department of Education established the web site “Hurricane Help for Schools: Providing Assistance for Schools Serving Students Displaced by Hurricane Katrina” located at http://hurricanehelpforschools.gov/index.html. At this site, teachers and students can find names of schools and school districts in various states who identified their needs in order to serve additional students displaced by the hurricane. Contact information for each school or district is also given, allowing classes to work directly with one person in providing the schools’ needs. For example, the East Baton Rouge Parish School System in Louisiana requests students’ school supplies, clothing, school furniture, computers, textbooks, and teaching supplies. The Galveston Independent School District in Texas has an additional 440 students from states affected by Hurricane Katrina and they ask for students’ school supplies, clothing, and computers. In my own community of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, elementary students in at least two schools are collecting money to donate to relief efforts, and the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh admitted and waived tuition for five college students displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Hopefully, all teachers and students committed to making the world better will take advantage of opportunities to care for children and families affected by the storm.

Ava L. McCall is Professor and Chair of the Curriculum and Instruction Department at the University of  Wisconsin Oshkosh and a member of the KIDS Advisory Board. She can be contacted at mccall@uwosh.edu.

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