The Plymouth Community School Corporation demonstrated its commitment to the local community, during the recent flood, according to Superintendent Andy Hartley.
He told the school board Tuesday that while he was sad that Plymouth had to go through the disaster, he was proud to be part of the school corporation’s response. “The stories continue to come in – I just heard another one this evening – of our kids, of our teachers, of our staff committing their time, committing their resources,” he said, “whether it was filling sandbags, teachers and staff who were helping parents of their kids pump out their basements during the flood, teams of teachers making meals for families of their kids who they know were significantly impacted, students and parents helping teachers keep the water out of their home.”
Hartley said others helped out in different ways. “We had bus drivers volunteer to drive the buses or the van during the community cleanup day, administrators who were willing to drive anyone who might have been staying at the Webster Center at that shelter to the high school so that they could shower,” he said. “And the amount of volunteers who showed up when we had our makeshift Red Cross shelter at the high school was amazing.”
The superintendent publicly thanked everyone who was involved in the flood response. “So we’ve said this many times and I’m sure we’ll continue to say it, but this is a special place, Plymouth, and I just wanted to take the opportunity to express my gratitude to all the teachers, the administrators, staff, students, and families who chipped in above and beyond, certainly, during that time, and demonstrated a true meaning of community.”
Hartley said teachers have since been busy re-acclimating children to school and preparing them for testing. He added that the Indiana Department of Education granted Plymouth Schools a waiver, to push back the testing window slightly.
