Tennessee school becomes disaster-relief refuge
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CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Northeast High School in Clarksville has become a community refuge, supporting residents impacted by the December 9 tornado outbreak as district workers repair damage to their school.
Principal Tavis Massey said they’ve received an overwhelming outpouring of support, both locally and from out-of-state.
“It’s been a blessing how the community has pulled together so quickly and so fast,” said Massey. “Within two, three hours, we were feeding people, providing people with a warm place and a place to come charge their devices, and just, you know, having a place to say, hey, come on in, and we’re here to support you.”
The school transformed into a center for disaster relief, holding the stock of donated supplies, food, and clothing.
“It’s been a labor of love,” said Massey.
Anthony Johnson, communications director for the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System (CMCSS), said within the first 10 minutes of volunteer sign-ups, about 150 school employees added their name to the list. Johnson noted FEMA and the Red Cross have also been available on-site, working with impacted residents.
At this time, the donation window is closed and Principal Massey said they are telling volunteers to take care of themselves, in turn.
“We have everything that we need at this time, but we will continue to work with all the officials to continue for as long as it’s needed,” said Massey.
Johnson said the plan is for students and staff to return to school on January 4.
“It is important to us to work very, very diligently to be able to resume classes on January 4, so that way we can we can return to some normalcy for our students,” said Johnson.
He said their “Families and Transitions” team has ramped up their efforts knowing they will have an increase in students dealing with displacement.
“Based on our estimates, we believe there was about 4,600 of our students who were within 2,000 feet of this storm path and it’s a traumatic event for students and whether they were in the path or not,” said Johnson.
The team works to make sure those impacted are able to continue their education.
Johnson said district leadership is meeting multiple times a day to review their transition plan, focusing on the social, emotional, and physical needs of the community.
