As the five year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaches, I've posted an essay I wrote in November, 2005.

A Circle of Friends

The other day I got an email from someone looking to establish pen pal relationships with “Katrina Victims”. The term jumped off the page and took me by surprise. He said he wanted these children to know they weren’t alone. First I smiled, and then I looked at my class. And then I smiled again. I have no “Katrina Victims” to offer him, and certainly, no one is alone.

I’m proud to say our school took in approximately forty students from the New Orleans area. From the minute they came to our school, they were children in our classes, not “Katrina Victims”. Yes, these students did come to us after a very difficult time, but in our classrooms, they were never “victims”. They were, and still are, children with unique learning styles and personalities….just like their classmates. As I watch everyone work and play together today, I am amazed that these children were “strangers in a strange land” just a few short months ago.

We all remember Aug. 29, when the lives of so many people in the Gulf Coast region were changed. We, as Houstonians and as a Jewish community pulled together and embraced the opportunity to help. When we were told that we would be taking in some children from New Orleans, any concerns the staff may have had were pushed aside by our desire to “Welcome the Stranger”. So the children came, and although those coming to us had endured a loss, the Shlenker children and staff were about to get a gift.

The time had come to live the values we teach. With the help of their parents, our students began to open not only their homes, but also their hearts to these new students. While fulfilling God’s commandments, they were lucky enough to make new friends and to see the world through other children’s eyes.
We certainly had an appropriate theme for Grandparents’ and Special Friends’ Day this year....."Circle of Friends." As I look around, I truly see that circle of friends….not Houstonians and “Katrina Victims”. Our children have reached out to others and in doing so, gained much in return. There is no “them and us”. There is community. There is no “Houston and New Orleans” There is friendship. There are no “victims” There are children. So as many of our families get ready to go back to continue their lives in New Orleans, we will be losing not “victims” or “evacuees”, but friends. We wish them well, and want to thank them for all they have given us. No one would wish another Hurricane Katrina on anyone, but if there’s one small glimmer of light that has come out of that tragedy, it is that many of us have had the opportunity to add to our circle of friends.