Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/11437
Months after quake, Calexico schools still closed M ost CTA members probably know about the magnitude 7.2 earthquake centered across the U.S.-Mexico bor- der not far from the Imperial County town of Calexico on Sunday afternoon, April 4. In fact, if you live anywhere in Southern Cali- fornia, you probably felt it to some degree. But what you may not know is that the dam- age prevented the district’s nearly 10,000 students and about 450 members of Associ- ated Calexico Teachers (ACT) from return- ing to class for almost six weeks — and left many unable to retrieve schoolbooks, sup- plies and personal items contaminated by asbestos fibers. “The earthquake and its aftermath certain- ly made all our lives more difficult these last few weeks,” says ACT President Carmen Du- razo, “but damage to buildings and materials is inconsequential compared to the countless injuries and potential loss of life that could very well have occurred had the earthquake happened on a school day. We are thankful not only for that, but also for the opportunities the disaster has given our community to display unity and collaboration in recovering from the damage and disruption.” Initial earthquake damage included con- crete soffits falling from the underside of ve- randa covers at numerous building sites; dam- age to electrical wiring and ceilings; leaking gas lines at some sites, and mildew and asbes- tos contamination from broken water fixtures; and shaken ceiling tiles. Continuing after- shocks and subsequent high winds in the days and weeks following the April 4 quake created safety hazards too severe for classes to contin- ue until repairs could be made. “ACT members couldn’t get to their class- rooms or teach their lessons as usual,” says Du- razo, “but that didn’t keep us from working in a variety of ways to help our students and our community cope with the effects of the earth- quake, including doing our best to help the students keep from getting too far behind due to the missed instruction.” Because the earthquake damaged the school district’s communications system, ACT Secretary Manuela Fuentes activated the chap- ter’s e-mail and phone tree system to keep members informed. Members assisted in set- ting up temporary shelter for food sta- tions for displaced families, and ACT- member school counselors and psy- chologists provided invaluable service to fearful students and their families. ACT members quickly began us- ing their Snap Book grade book soft- ware to communicate with students about opportunities for volunteer tu- toring sessions and homework assign- ments to keep students active. After it became evident that the break was go- ing to extend into weeks, ACT mem- bers and district personnel put togeth- er h omework les son packets p icked up by 6,314 o f t he di strict’s 9,332 students — none of whom had taken their California S tandards Tests prior to the quake. Filling the void When the earthquake kept ACT member Juan Orduña and his AP cal- culus students away from their Calexico High School classroom with po- tential time on their hands, the 32-year teach- ing veteran quickly filled the void. Communicating with his students via phone and the Web, he made sure they had their assignments and homework require- ments. After realizing that the disruption could last several weeks, he offered tutoring lessons in the community’s library at a variety of times to better accommodate the students’ schedules. “Because many of the students had to stay home to babysit with their younger siblings who normally would have been in school themselves, it wasn’t always possible for them to participate in the tutoring sessions in per- son,” said Orduña, “but those who could not were able to drop off their work and pick up new assignments.” “I also took advantage of the opportunity to take my many years’ worth of hand written assignments and notes and enter them digi- tally as computer files, updating and incorpo- rating them into current software,” said Or- duña. “My students and I all worked together ABOVE: Members of Associated Calexico Teachers beneath earthquake damaged over- hang: (from left) Secretary Manuela Fuentes, ACT Negotiations Chair Enrique Cervantez, ACT member Tino Castro, ACT member Nor- ma Ortiz, ACT Secretary Sandra Gustufson, and ACT President Carmen Durazo. to bring as much good out of the bad situation as we could.” Need for disaster preparedness “One thing the earthquake taught us that we’d like to share with our fellow CTA mem- bers throughout California — since most if not all live in an earthquake zone — is that they need to make sure that their district’s emer- gency plan doesn’t have fissures itself!” says ACT negotiations chair Enrique Cervantez. ACT members participating in a May 11 meeting conceded that prior to the earthquake they had not been diligent enough about mak- ing sure that the district had an up-to-date emergency plan and that it was following through with preparations and provisions. “In this instance, it resulted only in some initial irrational responses to the quake that probably caused unnecessary delay and dis- ruption,” says Cervantez, “but had this been a true emergency involving injury or death, the consequences could have been horrendous.” Ten of the 12 Calexico schools affected by Continued on page 37 SEPTEMBER 2010 | 2009 www.cta.org 33 MAY 31 CTA photos by Bill Guy