Hurricane Irene and the Start of School

Dear Parents and Students,

I’ve just returned from a long and circuitous drive to and from Hanover, NH with a detour through Chester, Grafton, and Townshend, VT. The storm damage is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I’m certain the impact on our local communities is something that is weighing on everyone’s mind.

I was disturbed seeing the damage to property and farmland and by the accounts of lost crops and stalls of purveyors at the Brattleboro Farmers' Market. We’ve witnessed a flood of historic proportions. The high water benchmarks will be a part of our landscape for decades.

Hurricane Irene will inevitably be part of our conversations at school next week. It occurred to me that in living this chapter of Vermont history, our students could work to document the event in a photographic collage accompanied by pertinent information (location, town, county, names, etc.). I would like to invite students and parents to contribute digital photographs (via e-mail or flash drive) of the storm in progress or documenting damage or change in the landscape. I know families are observing or participating in clean up efforts. Please consider contributing photographs of these efforts as well.

If the class can assemble a historically significant portrait of our changed landscape by September 14th, I would like to add it to the student photograph exhibit at the Tunbridge Fair. The exhibit generally highlights agricultural and town scenes through the eyes of youngsters. As I mentioned at conferences, our third and fifth grade will be attending the fair on September 15th.