Wednesday seemed like any other day. I woke up, got the kids up and had them get ready for school. I wasn’t prepared for what would happen next. At 7:12 that morning I received a call. Due to a fire, school had been canceled. I knew nothing more.
I went to work and thought about the school all day. I finished things I needed to take care of and headed home.
I tried to get a hold of a friend to ask if she had heard anything, she never answered. So at 9ish that night, I called my brother. I was desperate to hear an update. Luckily for me people were at his house that knew what I needed to know about the school.
I was told that the boys’ bathroom, girls’ bathroom and my daughter’s classroom were destroyed. The fire chief believes the fire started in the boys’ bathroom. It is still being investigated. But they believe it was the fan in the bathroom, which possibly had a short.
On Thursday I went to see the school. The whole South side had been boarded up. There were desks and chairs outside covered in soot. Computers, tables and other items from inside were also black. All along the West side, school papers and burned pages from books lay on the ground. My daughter pointed a page out. “That’s the Fat Rat, we just read that story!” It was apparent these were papers and books from her classroom.
I continued looking at the damage. The roof was warped and burned. There was even a hole up there! We looked into the windows. Everything was black. It seemed like just a nightmare!
I never could imagine something like this happening. As a matter of fact, I was totally in a “The cup is half full” sort of attitude. I thought that the fire would be contained and there wouldn’t be extensive damage. Boy was I wrong!
We had a meeting Thursday night. The school will have to be rebuilt. Some things can be salvaged, but there are a lot of things that can’t be. "We will face this giant, just as David faced Goliath".
Mrs. Wilder, my daughter’s teacher, apologized to me. "I am so sorry, but all of Harley's school work from this year is gone. I kept all of it in the classroom." I told her not to worry about it. All will be fine (definitely holding the tears in. I didn't want to make her feel guilty about anything. It is not her fault at all). She told me to tell Harley that she loves her and said that Harley is such a sweet girl.
After the meeting, my husband and I headed home. I told him “Its one thing to know that your daughter’s school work is most likely gone. It is another thing to be told”. For some reason it puts things in a whole new light (bringing reality to life). I began to cry. “That was our daughter’s school work. Now it is gone”.
But, we can’t focus on what has happened or even what we have lost. We can thank God, for we are truly blessed, that our kids and their teachers were not at school during the fire.
Mrs. Hibbs said in her prayer "Let the kids remember Joshua 1:9". “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go”.
The kid’s will have an extended Thanksgiving break, until things can be discussed further. We have an awesome group of families in this school and I know that we can pull together and fight this giant, just as the Principal said.
The Devil can’t keep us down! The Lord our God will continue to pave the way for us!
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