RE: [ncte-hs] How to use this crisis

["Hoyet" <hoyet@horizonview.net>]

My Freshmen came into classes today looking shell-shocked- I told them to
just write- to pour out on paper what they were feeling, thinking, what the
past 24 hours had meant to them- not to worry about grammar, spelling, to
just write. As I read what they had written I was glad I was alone- they
moved me to tears- expression of their fears, their sadness, and what shone
though time after time was their concern for the teenagers and children who
lost parents yesterday- for the brave rescue workers who lost their lives
and the remaining ones who keep on working with the sorrow in their hearts.
Some of them have parents who work at the Piketon plant- nuclear- in
southern Ohio and their anxiety that it might be a target. At first I
wondered why we were in school today, that we were all so tired and needed
time to mourn and digest what had happened but as the day went on we all
helped each other; a couple kids told me that writing it down helped them
feel better. so that's what we did today, except for a few teachers who made
them take BIG tests- I had kids in tears who had not slept well, who were
just having trouble concentrating-and worried sick about passing the tests.
Those teachers felt that getting back to "normal" was the best approach, and
I understand what they meant, but it seemed so hard on the kids.
Hope tomorrow brings some good news of some people rescued.