Elementary School Welcomes Displaced Students

September 8, 2005
Houston, Texas

Her name is Journey, but at five years old, she's too young to recognize its significance. Maybe when she's older, Journey will look back and remember the long, difficult road Hurricane Katrina forced her family on, but today she's happy about how nice her new kindergarten teacher is.

"She's good and she likes for people to feel good," said Journey.

A week ago, thousands of families like Journey's evacuated their flooded homes in New Orleans. Living moment to moment, they had little on their minds but survival -- finding shelter and safety for their families.

As many crossed into Texas, Price Brown, principal of Oak Creek Elementary School and former NEA staffer, knew that the thoughts of those distressed parents would soon turn to school for their children. He knew that school would provide the stability and security the evacuated children desperately needed.

"We didn't know how many students we'd be enrolling, but we kept watching the news. With so many families coming to Houston, we knew we had to have a plan to welcome these youngsters," Brown said.

By the morning of September 7, Oak Creek had registered 25 evacuated students. By that afternoon, Brown received word that 200 more people were evacuating to his district. He guessed that at least a quarter of them would be school children.

Thanks to the hard work and planning of Brown and the educators and staff at Oak Creek, which has a strong NEA presence, evacuated students and their parents received and will continue to receive a warm welcome.

On their first day, Journey and other evacuated students, most of whom are staying with family or at area hotels, were given a backpack filled with grade-appropriate supplies, an Oak Creek Elementary School t-shirt, a teddy bear, a gift bag with personal items and toiletries for their families, along with coupons and gift certificates to local stores and restaurants.

The school also created welcome packets to be sent to the area hotels and to be distributed to parents dropping their children off at the elementary school. The packets included a welcome letter from school staff and the school PTO; Girl and Boy Scout information; a school district newsletter and calendar; a district map; a list of local relief agencies and organizations; and a Texas Workforce Commission handout.

When parents arrived at Oak Creek, not only were they met with welcoming smiles and offers of assistance of all kinds, they were also greeted personally by someone with whom they could easily relate -- fellow New Orleans evacuee Katie Perez.

A former Oak Creek teacher, as well as NEA member, Perez resigned last spring to move with her husband to New Orleans where he'd been transferred and where she grew up and still had lots of family. But when Hurricane Katrina barreled toward their new home, the couple evacuated back to Houston. Many of Katie's family members also evacuated to Houston and are now staying at the Perez's house, which they had not yet sold and is still furnished.

Because they've been through the same experience, the evacuated parents feel comfortable sharing their stories with Perez and are glad their children have someone they can talk to and who can help them feel safe and secure.

To ensure that Perez receives the same kind of concern and generosity, the Oak Creek staff took up a collection to help her and her family with their immediate needs. But what Perez is perhaps most grateful for is the opportunity Principal Price and Oak Creek provided that allowed her to get back to work and back to a routine, and she advises displaced educators and NEA members to try to do the same.

"Try to get involved with the nearest school in the area where you've evacuated," she said. "Stay active, and know that arms are open to you."

-- Cindy Long, NEA staff writer