ArtSpace Charter School, located in Swannanoa, enrolls 400 students in grades K-8. Each year, faculty members decide on a word that will offer guidance as they consider the needs and priorities for the coming school year. Last fall—before Hurricane Helene—they chose the word “navigate,” without a sense of how that guiding concept was about to be tested.
Staff reunited after the storm. Photo by Kimmy Tolbert
After the hurricane with its devastating floods, especially in Swannanoa, the school became a hub of resources for the community at large, offering hot meals, supplies and Wi-Fi hotspots, among other needs. But beyond the physical needs, ArtSpace Charter also became a place where community members could connect, rest and find solace while musicians played, therapy dogs visited and picnics were held, just some of the ways the school offered support.
In preparation for the students’ return, teachers and staff received disaster resilience training so that the guiding word chosen at the beginning of the school year could evolve from the mindset of maneuvering through waters to the concept of finding a safe harbor, “a place for meaningful connection with one another and emotional support,” says Kimmy Tolbert, communications and marketing coordinator.
Once classes were able to resume, teachers found that students had craved the structure and normalcy that learning provides, that many brought a strengthened sense of empathy for others and, too, that anxiety was heightened in some. Acknowledging students’ experiences, emotions and concerns led to opportunities in the school’s curriculum.
ArtSpace’s wall of support from students and organizations across the state. Photo by Kimmy Tolbert
“Students were able to see how everyone came together in their community through ArtSpace as a distribution center and in their own neighborhoods,” says Melanie Meador, a second-grade teacher and teacher representative for the board of ArtSpace Charter’s non-profit parent corporation PACE (Partnership for Art at the Core of Education, Inc.). “They all had so much empathy for one another, and wanted to know about how each other’s homes were, if trees had fallen on their houses and if they had to move. They had really big questions like ‘Will things ever be the same?’, which came up in class discussions. They also had questions like: ‘Why don’t we have water?’; ‘Why were some bridges washed away and not others?’. Some were excited about how the military worked with our school so we had enough bottled water to reopen.”
A hands-on, metaphorical exercise helped the students creatively share their own individual experiences while also looking to the future. “We did a community building activity where students gathered sticks from the debris piles,” says Meador. “Students sat around in a circle and grabbed a stick if they had to flush a toilet with water, if they had to cook outside, etc. This was a way to share experiences without comparing. Then students built a collaborative tree artwork with the sticks they had collected to represent building back a strong community together.”
Learn more about ArtSpace Charter School at ArtSpaceCharter.org.
