Mannford teachers reported back to school. The year begins, after tragic wildfires destroyed hundreds of homes, leaving nearly 70 students and 5 staff members homeless.
Channel 8's Kim Jackson shows how the schools are reaching out to students.
In Mannford they have plenty of school supplies. Each student is getting a backpack full of everything on their list and the goal is to give the students everything they need.
The simple a, b, c's and a teachers smiling face may be exactly what students need. And surprisingly, teachers may need the same things.
"I have been cleaning up debris, watching men haul off big pieces of debris, pretty much hauling off bit by bit, memories from my childhood," said fifth grade teacher, Betty Karn.
She says her elderly parents lost everything--the home she grew up in. She understands the pain her students will feel.
"You think there kids that lived in these home that will come back to school with nothing. They won't have a home to ride home to they won't have school supplies. They won't have school clothes. They are not going to have anything."
But thanks to the community, they will have the basics. School supplies covered the elementary school stage--used as a storage area. There is more than enough for the 70-students who lost all their belongings.
"We have a whole stage full of school supplies at the elementary school. We raised over 12-thousand dollars for school supplies for this year, so it has just been very... It's hard to put in words. It has been incredible," said superintendent, Steve Waldvogel.
The superintendent and the teachers want the students to be comfortable here, when so much is confusing in their home lives.
"Yeah, there are gonna be kids that need to talk about this and they are not going to need to talk about it in front of the classroom. And I'm always one to bring my kids in the hall and have discussions about whatever is on their hearts. So there will be plenty of hallway discussions," said Ms. Karn.
They have so many supplies, they will keep those and provide them for their students the rest of the school year.
