The Phoenix

One week ago today, someone, or someones, lit fire to my daughter's elementary school in the middle of the night causing approximately $3 million worth of damage, completely destroying four classrooms and everything in them as well as causing smoke and water damage to all of the other classrooms, and forcing 350 students plus staff to relocate to another school for at least the rest of this school year. It was a very cowardly act of aggression. And it appears that it wasn't their first or last such act. The local police are now looking for a serial arsonist with at least 5 other school fires set in local schools the last 3 months.

While I am greatly saddened by the arsonist acts, and the sadness, grief, fear, anger, rage, nervousness, anxiety, frustration, hatred, worry, depression, and shock it has caused the students, teachers, staff, parents and community, that's not what I want to talk about. That would be too obvious and would dwell on the bad. Though the individual(s) is still on the loose, the students, staff, and community are moving on -- getting back to the business of teaching our children in the excellent fashion that our school district has been known for. They are not ignoring that the event(s) occurred, but choosing to not be held captive by the fear -- to rise above it.

When the company I work for was going through a massive growth spurt, stretching the internal resources way too thin trying to keep up with hundreds of new-hires, server capacity, etc, we used to comment that it was a good problem to have. Better to have to deal with how to manage too much business than how to manage not enough business. Since initial word of the fire broke last Monday, the community, students, families, and honestly, people around the world, have offered their help and resources. So many people flooded the school offering to help that the Principal and PTA president have had to ask people to stand down on their offers of assistance -- for now. You know how hard that must have been? To tell people "I'm sorry, we can't take your assistance right now." Their main focus and immediate concern was the student's safety, and getting something in place where they could continue their education.

There was SO much to do! In addition to the obvious requirements of time from the Police and Fire Departments (and the media), there was assessing and then finding a suitable location to continue schooling, evaluating the usability of the contents of the damaged school, dealing with the emotions of the staff affected, the logistics of bringing a school mothballed for almost 2 years back on-line and finding places for all of its guests for at least the next five months, preparing the school with comfort items to make the transition easier for the students, and I'm sure at least 500 items that we'll never even know about. All of this while dealing with the wide range of emotions running through their heads personally. I'm sure that their professionalism has held most of their emotions in check for now, but when the wave, hits, it will hit hard I'm sure.
They're not turning away the volunteers. They're not turning away the supplies being offered up by students, parents, local citizens, merchants, media and others. They're just deferring. As they get their hands around what's left to do, I'm sure that they will be GLAD to graciously accept the offers.

On Sunday afternoon, less than 7 days (only 156 hours) from the time the fire alarm went off, an uncountable group of persons transformed what was a devastating event in our community into a triumphant victory of teamwork, commitment and hard work as they opened the doors of the school now deemed the temporary home of those 350 students displaced by cowardice aggression, welcoming each of them with open arms. Despite the inherent confusion with all of those students and each of their parents crowding the school at once as if this was the first day of school, things looked incredible! The student's desks had their things in them (where possible). There were posters on the walls – many from other schools providing support and well wishes! There were pictures of past events all over the school. There were maps and signs and guides to make sure people knew where to go. There was A LOT of energy and excitement as students took to discovering new rooms and hallways. Some things may even seem like an "upgrade" – I remember my daughter commenting, "the bathrooms have three stalls in them!" This school also has air conditioning lacking in their last school. What was missing, mostly, was the fear. It had been supplanted by the positive energy and excitement all around.

There will be bumps in the road. Unplanned glitches will need to be addressed. Emotions will have to be discussed and overcome. The one thing that really came across though, almost from the start of the communications a week ago, was that everyone would be riding the same figurative bus down that road. It doesn't matter what school it stops at, it's the same group of people, the same community of caring teachers, staff, and parents that support these students. It's still the same school -- just in a different building... For now...