Shortage of CWS School Kits Highlights their Value By Matt Hackworth
As a teacher at Orange Grove Elementary School in Gulfport, Miss., Stephanie Schepens faced a classroom full of students traumatized by Hurricane Katrina. ?A lot of our students went home to FEMA trailers or they didn?t have anything,? Schepens said. ?We were the only thing that was stable at that time.?
Children weather the storm alongside adults but sometimes lack the psychological capacity to process their emotions. They often find the most solace and emotional support in their local schools, which help normalize their lives.
?Following a disaster, the school has a tremendous role to play,? said Dr. Carden Johnston, who chaired the disaster preparedness team for the American Academy of Pediatrics. ?The teacher needs some support in helping children readjust and handle the psychological problem.?
Support can be delivered one tote bag at a time, each filled with paper, pens, scissors and other supplies found in a Church World Service School Kit. Supplies donated by churches replace basic materials that help children learn. Notebooks float away in flood waters. Scissors and glue can be ripped from a child?s room or, as seen most recently in Enterprise , Ala., in damage to school buildings.
CWS maintains a supply of school kits for emergency distribution to places such as Enterprise High School, which suffered significant damage as eight students were killed in a March 2 tornado. However reserves of CWS School Kits are critically low, as profound disasters nationally and globally have required major shipments.
?Following Hurricane Katrina, CWS has been able to provide hundreds of kits to schools along the Mississippi coast, and I remember a teacher?s comment that a School Kit and a Health Kit were like Christmas,? said Linda Reed Brown, CWS Emergency Response Program associate director.
?Last week we could have shipped 300 kits to tornado-ravaged Dumas, Oklahoma, but the low reserve wouldn?t allow us to do so.? Internationa lly, School Kits can mean a child has an enhanced school experience, in the U.S., they often mean children can return to school more quickly and begin emotional recovery a lot sooner, since school is such a staple in American lives.?
Johnston points out that the Academy?s research in communities devastated by tornadoes finds that schools can lead communities to recovery. Schepens says her students received more than school supplies in a tote bag.
?For the kids to see how good people were to them, so thoughtful and caring, you could see a glow in their eye,? Schepens said. ?It makes them feel wanted and cared for.?
School Kit Contents * One pair of blunt scissors * Pads or notebooks of ruled paper 8-1/2" X 11", containing 140-200 sheets of paper. No filler paper, please. * One 30-centimeter ruler (12") * One pencil sharpener * Six new pencils with erasers * One large eraser * Twelve sheets colored construction paper * One box of 24 crayons * One 12"W x 14"L finished size, cloth bag with cloth handles and a closure (Velcro, snap, or button) Pack these items in the cloth bag and secure contents with the closure. Or, if you prefer, a donation of $13 per Kit will allow Church World Service to buy school supplies for use in classroom settings. Processing/Shipping: $2.00 per Kit.
Matt Hackworth is a communications officer for the Church World Service Emergency Response Program
Media Contacts
Lesley Crosson, (212) 870-2676, lcrosson@churchworldservice.org Jan Dragin - 24/7 - (781) 925-1526, jdragin@gis.net