From Ohio County, With Love: Ritchie Elementary Students Send Letters of Support to Hurricane-Ravaged School in Louisiana
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WHEELING -- The aftermath of Hurricane Ida hitting Louisiana's coast has resulted in a flood of compassion from students at Ritchie Elementary School in Wheeling -- as well as pictures of sunshine and rainbows.
The students have written "compassion cards" of encouragement to students at Upper Little Caillou Elementary School along the Gulf Coast in Chauvin, Louisiana. The school facility was among those most heavily damaged by the storm and remains uninhabitable.
After learning of the devastation in Louisiana and that many school buildings were destroyed there, guidance counselor Nick Irvin contemplated how he might discuss it with Ritchie School students and make it a teaching experience.
"When the hurricane hit Louisiana (the last week of August), it was raining here," he said. "I thought about how awful it would be to be in that situation, and how we could turn that into a learning lesson for students."
Irvin found contacts at Upper Little Caillou Elementary School and the Terrebonne Parish School District. He decided the students could learn about compassion from the situation, and about "doing something for somebody else and not expecting anything in return."
"I went to each class, and explained what had happened," Irvin said. "I asked them if they had seen anything about the hurricane on the news, and some of them had. I tried to make them think, and I asked them if they were in that situation how they would feel. Would they be upset? Feel sad? Be scared?
"Then we talked about being compassionate, and doing things to make someone feel better and not wanting anything back."
Each of the students wrote a card to their student counterparts in Louisiana. In total, about 250 cards were submitted and they have been sent to the school district.
Irvin said he looked at many of them. He said the messages largely stated: "I'm sorry for what happened." "We care about you." "We hope it gets better." Many of the students didn't sign their own name, but only that of Ritchie Elementary School.
There were also a lot of pictures drawn on the notes, according to Irvin.
"There were lots of drawings of hearts, suns and rainbows," he said. "I think the (Ritchie) kids liked it. They told me afterward they felt happy and positive, and there was a good response.
"It was a spur of the moment thing. I hope they learned something from it."
Irvin said he hasn't heard anything back from those in Louisiana, and that is likely for good reason.
Schools in Louisiana are just now more than a month later starting to hold classes. Many schools able to physically hold classes still don't have power restored.
Students at Upper Little Caillou are scheduled to go back to class Oct. 1, but they won't be returning to their school building, according to information posted on the Terrebonne Parish School District website. Instead, the school's students will be divided among two other elementary schools in the parish.