With Kane in need, our community came to the rescue

(Published Sunday, May 4, 2007 in Examiner-Enterprise)

Sometimes, you don't know how many friends you have until you are truly in need of help.

I'm thankful to say the Bartlesville Public School District is blessed with a multitude of friends.

Early Monday morning, a passerby happened to notice water seeping out of the front door of Richard Kane Elementary. School officials were quickly notified, but by then, the building had suffered a great deal of damage. When principal Beth Cook entered the school that morning, she was greeted with water up to her ankles. The reading pit, a sunken area in the middle of the library, was overflowing with water, transforming it into a small pool.

A six-inch water pipe, which supplies the school's sprinkler system, had burst overnight, filling the school with water from below. Since the line burst beneath the building, no alarm sounded. Fortunately, the sprinklers were never engaged, which would have caused even more damage to the building. Mrs. Cook, as well as the rest of the teachers and staff members at Kane, had a mess on their hands. Classes were canceled and contingency plans were considered.

Thankfully, it didn't take long to come up with a solution. Several months back, some board members, along with administrators, had worked together with local ministers to develop a plan on utilizing church facilities in the event a future need developed. That planning allowed for easier decisions to be made on Monday. Several church officials agreed for the school district to utilize their buildings through this emergency. With Kane facing a cleanup process of at least several days, the need was obviously there.

Though classes were canceled on Monday, by the following day, Kane students had resumed classes at three Bartlesville churches. First-grade classes were held at the First Church of the Nazarene while second and third graders headed over to the Adams Blvd. Church of Christ for their studies. Kane's fourth and fifth graders could be found at the First Baptist Church . The pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classes are located just to the east of the Kane's main building in the portable units, which weren't affected by the flooding. Thus, those classes didn't need to be moved.

Office personnel were divided among the four sites, allowing for a constant Kane presence. Music, art and physical education teachers rotated around the four sites.

The bottom line is, because of the generosity of some church leaders and their staff members, Kane students were able to resume their studies in a relatively normal way.

Church rooms were seamlessly transformed into quality class spaces. The eating areas were perfectly suited for school cafeteria settings. For the temporarily displaced Wildcats, the churches represented a home away from home.

I want to express my sincere appreciation to the pastors of these three churches and their congregations. They have willingly provided the space in their beautiful buildings for our students from Kane. The pastors and their staff members have demonstrated in action what it means to be a servant leader. Special thanks go out to the senior pastors from each of the three respective churches, Dr. Randy Schuneman at First Church of the Nazarene, Dr. Joe Dan Fowler at First Baptist Church, and Rev. Art Henley at Adams Blvd. Church of Church. Dave Hammonds, who is the family life minister at Adams Blvd. Church of Christ; Terry Long, minister of education and administration of First Baptist Church; and Darren Melton, the associate pastor of worship at First Church of the Nazarene – along with all of the church staff members – were tremendous sources of help as well.

Pastors and their staff members have greeted students at the door, handed out lunches, cleaned up after our students, and provided meals for our teachers. They have truly demonstrated in action what it means to serve others. Thank you pastors, staff and congregations for your willingness to allow us to utilize your facilities and for assisting our students and teachers through this hectic and difficult time. We owe you a debt of gratitude.

Of course, the story of the Kane flood is hardly complete. Work likely continues on the building as you read this article. We're hoping to have the school in working order in the near future to allow the students to return to their normal classroom settings. The district has utilized TRC Disaster Solutions, a Tulsa-based company, to help with the cleanup. Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse of Bartlesville as well as Homeland donated to the effort.

Several others assisted the Kane cause as well, including teachers, staff members, maintenance workers and volunteers. Our custodians and maintenance staff began immediately assessing the cause of the problem and then commenced to cleaning up the water. They did a tremendous job of working to get the school in proper order as soon as possible. By early Monday morning, shortly after the flooding had been discovered, teachers were going through the rooms rescuing items from the waters and moving equipment and curriculum materials out of harm's way. Staff members could be found assisting in the library or office areas. Some volunteers grabbed mops to help out with the cleaning effort, which was expedited by the quality work of the maintenance staff.

Members of the Kane parent-teacher organization served breakfast to those who had given of their time to get the building back in working order. The food was eaten on tables set up just outside of the school's main door.

The district's Child Nutrition Department has had to make sack breakfasts and lunches for all students from Kane every day. School-Aged Care has had to move to make-shift quarters. The Transportation Department has had to modify its schedule to transport all of Kane's students to and from the churches. Our Maintenance Department continues to work diligently on the building.

Our entire staff has done whatever is necessary to help the school day to continue for Kane students as seamlessly as possible.

Unfortunately, incidents such as the one that occurred at Kane earlier this week are a part of life. They happen. But the response that followed – such as that from church officials, school employees and volunteers – isn't so commonplace everywhere.