Packing Week - FEMA Trailer

This is the week to pack the van, and see how much it can hold. I did get some great news from Lisa Young, Assistant Principal at the school. She has made arrangements for me to stay in one of the FEMA trailers while I'm at the school (if I wanted). So, after getting organized in a hotel for one night when I arrive, I'll move into one of the trailers that many of the teachers and families of the Andrew Jackson students have been living in for the past seventeen months. I should get a little appreciation of what they have been going through, albeit for a short time.

With my van at capacity, I did make a few more shipments directly from Staples this week. They were scheduled to arrive Friday afternoon, but I haven't heard yet. I've noticed that communications to the school are very difficult. Despite repeated tries at telephoning the school, I have never connected. All our communications have been through email or through Donna Schultz's cell phone. I suspect the lack of phone lines is but one of the resident's frustrations.

Another 4th Grade Classes Connects

Today, we had a second fourth grade class bring in their collection of supplies and money for the Andrew Jackson Project. Ms. Carmie Hazlett's class at Slate Run Elementary School will be sending two large cartons to the fourth grade class of Ms. Kimberly Derouen at Andrew Jackson. Diane DeMuth, one of the Circle-of-Grandparents volunteers, who works with Ms. Hazlett in the class, was "overwhelemed" by the outpouring of compassion from these "wonderful kids." Now that the ball is rolling, we hope other classes will pick up the torch, and run with it.

Some History

The school is located in Chalmette, a suburb of New Orleans. Chalmette's history is interesting in that it was the location of the famous Battle of New Orleans where the United States forces under General Andrew Jackson defeated the British in 1815.

On August 29, 2005 an enormous storm surge was pushed by Hurricane Katrina up the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, a little-used commercial channel dug by the Army Corps of Engineers in the 1960s. The entire town was innundated, up to 30 feet in some places. As a result, in a matter of hours, Chalmette was almost entirely destroyed. A mile to the west, the 9th ward of New Orleans was similarly flooded.

Buckeye Sale is a Big Success

Football jerseys were prevalant all day on Monday, as enthusiasm was high for the Ohio State Buckeyes. The national championship game day coincided with the day of the "Bucks for Buckeyes" sale to raise money for Andrew Jackson Elementary School.

This full basket of Buckeyes sold out during the lunch period on Monday. This is one of the dynamic teams that marketed the fine product made by the class on Friday. The timing was perfect, since the Ohio State Buckeyes were playing for the National Championship on Monday evening. Over one hundred dollars were raised.

A second money raising idea was also a big success. Any student in the school was allowed to wear his or her cap to school, if they paid one dollar to the Andrew Jackson Fund. Over one hundred students paid the dollar, and almost all the caps said something about the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Congratulations to Mrs. Dicke's class, and thanks to all the students at Granby who participated

Buckeyes for Bucks

The class at Granby Elementary has been discussing ways to raise money for supplies for Mrs. Schultz's class at Andrew Jackson. Making Buckeyes and selling them in the cafeteria was selected as the best idea, and today was "making them day." Here are some pictures of the work hour. Production lines were set up, and teams assigned to the mixing, rolling, dipping and packaging. Selling will take place on Monday at lunch time, after the balls have had a good chance to set over the weekend. The Buckeyes will sell at the bargain price of four for one dollar, and orders are streaming in.

How can I help?

Many friends and relatives have heard about the project, and donated money so that we can buy supplies. Over the holidays, over $2,000 was donated, and I became a purchasing agent for the $1,100 worth of supplies (14 cases) purchased to date. My basement is filling up, and my van will be overflowing. Great!!!!! We will have to ship future supplies, but that's not a problem.

Staples has been the supplier where most of the basic supplies have been purchased, and they will ship at no cost. http://www.staples.com/ will take you to their website. Holcomb's Knowplace was a good location for teacher's supplies, and we did find the special "Judy Clock" on-line at ABC Teacher's Supply. I have asked for ten of the teachers to share their needs with us, so we can help them with specific purchases. I expect to have that information soon.

We have set up a bank account at Fifth Third Bank in Columbus, and one can donate directly to that account: The Andrew Jackson Elementary School Charity Fund. If you would like to send checks to me, please email mitch2006@columbus.rr.com for mailing instructions. If you would rather do that, I will continue to communicate with the teachers, and ship to them using the funds in the account. Needless to say, 100% of the funds are used for supplies.

The Assistant Principal at AJE who helped get us started is Lisa Young and her email address is lyoung@stbernard.k12.la.us. I'm sure Lisa can put you in touch with a specific teacher with whom you can "connect", if you would like to go directly to the school. Please let me know if you do, so we can have an overview of what is happening should more coordination is needed.

The school's address is: Andrew Jackson Elementary School, 102 Eighth Street, Chalmatte, LA 70043. AJE is a K through 6th school.

Information about our teacher

Donna Schultz is the teacher we began working with at Andrew Jackson Elementary, so you might like to know a little about her. Donna has taught for 24 years, but lost virtually everything in Katrina. Fourteen feet of water filled her home, and she has been living in an 8' x 24' FEMA trailer for the past sixteen months along with her husband and 16-year old son. In addition to her personal loss, she lost her arsenal of teaching materials, collected over many years. The map above shows the location of Chalmette, where the school is located, relative to downtown New Orleans.

Donna's 16-year old son suffers from Downs Syndrome, but is attending the high school, and is progressing well. Donna also has a daughter who graduated from Tulane University (on
scholarship). Her daughter had moved to Las Vegas in November, right after the storm. However, the day she was supposed to move, Donna's dad died. Just 3 months after Katrina. Her daughter was able to move back to New Orleans, and now works as a concierge in one of the hotels.

Despite the hardships, Donna, her husband and sixteen year-old son are working to rebuild their home. She described the progress as painstakingly slow, but the house is now stripped down to it's studs. They are beginning to install utilities. Donna is also starting work on her Master's Degree this year, so you can appreciate that she is stretched thin. On several occasions she has reffered to our group of donors as her angels, and considers herself "blessed."

I think you can understand why we want to help Donna and her fellow teachers at Andrew Jackson Elementary.