Mustering the troops for hurricane help

Mississippi retiree Modena Carter offers clothes and hugs for Katrina's young evacuees.

When you're exhausted, have no clothes that fit, and just lost your home, you might not be in the best condition to walk into a totally new school and hit the books—especially if you don't know where your parents are and you're only six.

In that kind of situation, it would be really great to have some kindly, retired teachers around who understand kids and will take you under their wing.

And that's exactly what happened in Clarksdale, Mississippi, after Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, spreading evacuees through the region and the nation.

Carter, a retired social studies teacher who's on the Mississippi Association of Educators (MAE) board of directors, started dialing up retired members soon after she heard the children were coming. "Everybody was willing to help," she said, except for two retirees who were taking care of relatives at home, and even those two offered to do anything they could from home.

The school superintendent offered the use of a wing in a school that wasn't being used at the time, and provided busing, food, and other supplies. Fifteen retired teachers went to work comforting, healing—and teaching—the children.

Some were without their parents because they were evacuated with other relatives. "One 6-year-old girl was an only child, and she was used to that," said Carter. "She was missing being hugged and held and all the attention you get when you're Mama's baby. So we took care of her one-on-one."

Once an educator, always an educator, so Carter and the other retirees provided reading, math, and science lessons to the children, who ranged from 4 to 17 years old.

Many of the children had no school clothes. They were wearing clothes given to them by kind-hearted citizens, which was better than nothing but not a good way to walk into class. "They were not looking their best," said Carter. "One little boy had red, fuzzy houseshoes." The retirees bought shoes and school uniforms with money donated by local residents, the MAE, and a school in Illinois that called looking for a way to help.

And the next week, the children—some 40 in all—entered regular Clarksdale classes.

—Alain Jehlen

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