LM Oct.2017

IRMA

HARVEY

ILLINOISSCHOOLSPROVIDERELIEF TOHURRICANEVICTIMS

WeAsked‘HowAreIllinoisSchoolsHelping?’ ...andwereoverwhelmedwithstoriesofcompassion

The Houston Independent School District estimated that Hurricane Harvey caused more than $700 million in damage to its buildings, and that does not even count the damage to homes occupied by staff and the families of the 216,000 students in the district. The photos and vignettes on the following pages paint a portrait of administrators, staff members, teachers, students and community members pitching in to do their part to assist the hurricane relief efforts—and these examples are just the ones that were submitted. In the aftermath of all of that destruction, Illinois schools all over the state rose to the occasion and made us all proud!

Hurricanes Harvey and Irma left their devastating marks on Texas and Florida—and schools were not spared. Estimates ranged as high as 8.5 million schoolchildren being out of school as the result of the hurricanes, and those estimates don’t even include Puerto Rico, which was battered by both Irma and Maria. Hurricane Harvey’s arrival in Texas coincided with the start of the school year there, and Irma’s powerful path resulted in Florida Governor Rick Scott ordering all public schools, state colleges and universities closed for several days. Some of the largest school districts in the United States were affected, including the Houston Independent School District in Texas and Orange County, Broward County, Miami-Dade County and Hillsborough County in Florida, where school districts are organized by county.

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