When Mother Nature strikes and puts us in our place, humanity responds so when a tornado destroyed Thomas Jefferson High School, North Texans did something too.
Each day since and all through the day, the helpers keep coming.
"I brought some tablets, binders, markers," said a staffer from a nearby school, delivering supplies to the once shuttered Thomas Edison Middle School, which is now the temporary home of Thomas Jefferson High.
They lost their schools and homes. Some of them will be displaced a long time.
Hannah May and Jennifer Berry attend Northway church which was damaged by the storm, but they're still at the new Thomas Jefferson unpacking boxes filled with supplies from other schools, businesses, including NBC 5 and Telemundo 39.
"Some hours are really great and some hours are really hard," said Principal Sandi Massey.
Her biggest fear is that her students might stumble and that can’t be fixed by writing a check or buying supplies.
"We're a school that has made a lot of academic improvement over the last several years and it would break my heart for us to fall just because of a tornado," Massey said.
Jefferson High scored a "B" on their State Report card, and while academic growth is on their rise, they still have a way to go on their achievement scores.
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Principal Massey's asking all of us to help fill this place with support rather than supplies.
"A lot of it, is just coming into the building and just being present, 'What can we do for you? Can we organize supplies?' and other things like sending encouraging notes to students and to staff," she said.
That's why before even unpacking a box, she's focused on making sure the halls had notes of encouragement and that focus on learning and drive to succeed doesn't get buried in the rubble that mother nature left behind.
If you would like to send cards or letters of support to Thomas Jefferson’s staff and students, you can mail those to 2940 Singleton Blvd, Dallas, TX 75212.
If you would like to volunteer to support the school, please contact Cecilia Rivas at cerivas@dallasisd.org
