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New Accents in the Halls of Area Schools
One month after starting 11th grade in New Orleans, Marcus Nance fled the devastated city with his mother, sister and two brothers. The family is living in Prince George's County, where Marcus attends Charles H. Flowers High School and is a member of its varsity football squad.
(Photos By Bill O'leary -- The Washington Post)
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Asked how he will start over, James said: "I'm used to making something out of nothing. We was already living on nothing. This is really nothing new."
'Compelled to Give'
In his English class, James found more Katrina echoes. Teacher Eric Skinner had tacked a New Orleans basketball jersey onto his wall. Outside Skinner's door stood dozens of boxes of clothes and other supplies collected for Katrina relief. Newspaper clippings about the storm were taped onto windows next to fliers for a relief drive. "Katrina has attacked and we will fight back!" read one.
Skinner said the drive has raised more than $26,000. Local businesses have given thousands. Students have chipped in lunch money. The school's monthly newspaper is selling advertising to raise more relief funds ($10 per ad for students, $25 for others).
"We felt compelled to give what we could," said Brittany Patrick, 16, one of Skinner's students. "Hurricane Katrina has really shocked a lot of people."
Skinner said the school will look after the new students in months to come.
"We're adopting those kids," he said. "Anything they need -- calculators, books, clothes. They'll always have a place to go."
He and other teachers also inject Katrina into daily lessons. Example: "FEMA. F-E-M-A. Stands for what?" Skinner asked one class in a pop quiz. Chemistry teacher Jaimie Foster, with two evacuees in her classes, said she lectured one day on toxic floodwater.
Foster said the new Flowers students -- like hundreds of thousands of Katrina kids in schools nationwide -- have touched teachers. "It's traumatic," she said. "It's very, very hard at times to keep your emotions in line."
