The tornado warnings came just as school was ending Monday at Plaza Towers Elementary in Moore, Okla. Some teachers hustled children to a nearby shelter at a church. Others moved young students to hallways, the designated safe spaces within the school, and had them assume the duck-and-cover position-precisely as they had been trained to do.
When the monster twister, with winds approaching 200 mph, made a direct hit on the school, causing ceilings to collapse and walls to topple, it was teachers who used their bodies to shield children. After the tornado passed, it was teachers who provided the first hugs.
If anything positive came out of the heart-breaking tragedy in Oklahoma, it was the restoration of The Teacher as symbol of competence and caring.
About time.
On Monday, these teachers were the first first-responders. We will not soon forget tales of how they held students tight as the tornado’s winds tried to tear them away-nor the images of parents’ relief as they reunited with their children and expressed gratitude to those who made it possible.
North Texans understand better than most the suffering felt by our neighbors in Oklahoma. Just last week, we lived the uncertainty and pain as twisters lashed the Granbury and Cleburne areas. And the day after the Moore disaster, we, too, were in the National Weather Service’s tornado warning box. Our hearts were in Moore, but our eyes were on our skies.
Just in case we need further reminding, today is the 26th anniversary of the Saragosa tornado that killed 30 and injured 121; many of the casualties in the tiny West Texas farming town were attending a Head Start preschool graduation ceremony.
North Texans know, and remember, tornado tragedy. Today, let us not forget the teachers. Take the time to offer a word of thanks. Because those who teach … do so much more than that.
Editorial, Pages 16 on 05/23/2013