This is the synopsis of the telling of what it was like to teach library and media class after Helene destroyed our school.
While a lifetime of considerations occured after the storm, my professional goal was for our students to see themselves in stories and all around them; to remember that they had a promise to keep to themselves; to understand that "Library" is not just a place where your borrowed book belongs, but a part of one's life that needs nurturing to grow, curiosity to feed one's mind, and be true to one's heart.
Reflecting throughout the experience I thought of libraries that had been burned, disappeared in time, been delivered on the backs of pack mules and camels. I served out our school library in the trunk of a Mustang.
* Indicates another story for another day... Thank you for being here with me today.*
A Glimpse VC by Brisa Q.
The guiding principles (ISTE & AASL) I used overlapped practices that built resiliency:
resiliency
Resiliency (or resilience) is the ability to adapt well to adversity, trauma, or significant stress, "bouncing back" from difficult experiences and potentially growing stronger. It involves emotional, mental, and behavioral flexibility, allowing individuals to navigate life’s challenges, such as trauma or work stress, rather than being overwhelmed.
American Psychological Association (APA) +2
Key Aspects and Usage Examples
Mental/Emotional Flexibility: Viewing challenges as learning opportunities, maintaining a positive perspective, and regulating emotions.
Active Coping:
Focusing on controllable factors, setting goals, and developing problem-solving skills rather than dwelling on uncontrollable, negative situations.
Social Support: Utilizing social resources and maintaining strong relationships to handle stress.
Physical Adaptation: Returning to original shape after stress (e.g., a, bending metal, or a person recovering from physical hardship).
Ecology: An ecosystem’s capacity to return to its original state after a disturbance.
American Psychological Association (APA) +4
Synonyms for Resiliency
Resiliency is not just about "surviving," but adapting and thriving in the face of change, often developed over time through experience.
The Jed Foundation +1
We were determined to adapt, not just overcome, but THRIVE.
September 24, 2024, Helene in WNC
Our school principal, Dr. Bonnie Smith, focused us daily with a mantra: “We are going to do school, wherever we are. We are going to do the very best we can with the resources we have. And we’re going to be kind, patient, and love on these kids every step of the way because that's the right thing to do by our students. We are going to show up, adapt, and keep going together.”
This she instilled after sitting an all-night (3 nights) vigil at the school, with her husband. They watched the cameras as the river crept over it's banks until the power cut out.
The river took the picnic area. Then moved across the fields. The playground. The bus lot. The waters reached the school and entered from below.
The waters from all of the places came into the classrooms, the gymnasium, the art room, the music room. It stopped at the second to last step before the old main level, where the library is located.
ACTIVITY: IMAGINE- No STARBIES coffee today! No "Morning!" "Good morning!" Wind chills in the morning - No quick photocopying, supply run, restroom. No phone, no classroom, no routine.
Everyday, doing the hard things. Everyday. The hard things again. Sometimes, there was a cupcake. JOY. Sometimes there was fresh mountain air, and I breathed in like Clara*. (JOY) As a woman of a certain age, I wanted to get stronger. Not just getting steps in, but climbing hills, rugged terrain, old stairs. (JOY) * Some of us drove between three to four different locations each day; none of us had the same schedule two days in a row.
Sometimes there was help. A professor at ASU mentioned that there was a bookmobile woman. She and her assistant librarians bought us buckets of books. We laid them out willy- nilly on tables in the old bunk house common room. BOOK JOY
People from all over the country wanted to help. They wanted to send books. They wanted to send supplies. They kindly sent us best wishes and prayers. I remember telling a lady from Texas that we were at a Pompeii level event. We never really were able to wrap our heads around the entirety; everyone was experiencing the event in their own way. *
We were sent books. We had no place to store anything. I built my curriculum into a digital media center, because I wanted the screentime. I was a push-in librarian. I did not even have a cart- it was too narrow to pass through the old mission school doorways. Remember the camps from the 1950's? It was wonderfully nostalgic (JOY).
I read a loud. I shared online libraries (NCKIDSDIGITAL). We book logged in EPIC. We wrote digital stories (BOOKCREATOR). We circulated books from other schools' donations. Books were important. Ownership, not so much so. I had a vested interest in each students' reads. We talked incessantly about characters, themes, genres, plots, and the joy of reading, watching, and listening to audio books. We hugged. We connected in the halls, at the mess, on the hill, the porch, in the sun under the trees. We had poetry slams and students reading and put them up to share. We laid in the sun on fresh green grass, reading...
Where was I...
There was a school, a new school, almost ready. The timing of ready and completion and the storm left us out in the elements and out of our normal environment for almost a perfect 365 days.
And then one day, I entered an large beautiful space with empty shelves. I stopped using my car as a portable bookshelf. I greeted some of my students each morning not having to wear my electric parka, but heels the way that some media specialists do. And now, I have students who pick up a book, to read in a cozy, quiet place, and I have students who open their laptops to build stories.
And sometimes we talk about the "post-Helene days", and we remember what the 'Before' was like. And we reflect on how we've changed through the experience. We see each other, and we see some of what life added to this time, and how we were blessed.
Q&A*