Finding New Hope In Our Schools—After September 11

Gayle Denny, ELEA National Director for Resources

Although, thankfully, there have been no reports of direct loss of life in any of our Lutheran schools and early childhood centers in the Washington, D.C. area, conversations with school administrators close to the disaster report many less obvious effects of September 11.

Several schools have students living on Bolling Air Force Base, who are subject to special security when leaving in the morning and arriving home in the afternoon. Visitors are limited inside the base, and there has been no mail service due to the Anthrax scare. Many Christmas gifts and letters did not arrive. Single parents waiting for child support checks are having to do without. School buses drive by the Pentagon building each day, seeing remnants of the disaster, but also, thankfully see it being rebuilt.

It=s hard to measure the stress on children, their families, and our schools. Our nation=s capital, normally a hub for the tourism and hospitality industries, is now described as a ghost town by many. Hotel, transportation, catering, and related industries have laid off many workers - some with children in our Lutheran schools and centers.

Children wonder . . . Will my Mom or Dad be deployed? If they are, when will they come home? Will I have to go to public school next year? Next semester? Will my life ever be the same? Will I feel safe again? Was I ever safe?

The sensual memories of children may remain a lifetime - a fifth grade girl waited all day on September 11 to hear if her mother, who works at the Pentagon, was alive. Mom was in a lock-down and could not communicate that she was safe. After coming home late that night, her daughter reported at the school the next day that Mom smelled like smoke from the fire - a memory she will not soon forget.

One school administrator interviewed said she is often asked, AAre things getting back to normal?@ This being her first year serving in her Lutheran school replied, AI don=t know what normal is. Things won’t ever be the same, but by the grace of God we will go forward.”

Yet, administrators and teachers are happy for safekeeping. Hallways, offices and classrooms are filled with cards and letters letting students and staff know that people are praying for them. The children have learned a wonderful lesson on how human beings can care for one another, even from a distance. The rebuilding process of bricks and mortar will eventually be completed . . . the rebuilding process in our hearts and spirits may take a lifetime.

Please continue to pray for those affected by these acts of terrorism in D.C. as well as New York.

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