VT tent school

(Darren Allen, Vermont NEA)

Vermont is still struggling to recover from the flood damage caused by Hurricane Irene, and a local NEA staffer sent out this report from Moretown (2009 population: 1,724):

The school building is still uninhabitable (the only such school so-designated in the wake of the flooding) but the school itself is in session. I've attached a picture of an elementary art teacher doing her thing in a large tent—one of a half dozen that substitutes for classrooms. It was pouring rain today, but teachers, students and even the principal wore smiles. And the flooding hasn't hurt attendance: only one absence was reported this week, and that because the student's family couldn't make it because of a washed-out road. The principal gave the teachers the option of not starting school until the building was ready, but the faculty enthusiastically and unanimously said they'd rather work.

At this time when our members are facing an unprecedented attack, unrelenting pressure and economic setbacks, it is heartwarming to see when teachers are left alone to do what they do, extraordinary things happen.