Evacuation Leads to Friendships

Friends often have similar interests or views, but before they can spend time with one another, they must be introduced.

That is what staff of the Anne Carlsen Center (ACC) and St. John’s Academy have been doing since the Zebedee Center became a temporary home for some ACC students. Teachers have brought classes together for multiple activities, giving kids the chance to be kids.

Second graders from St. John’s Academy
talk with Jonas, one of the high school
students attending the Anne Carlsen Center,
while they pick up garbage on Earth Day.

First Impressions

For staff at St. John’s Academy and the adjoining Zebedee Center, opening their doors and hearts to the Anne Carlsen Center was only the right thing to do.

“One of the things that has come out of this spring is that you never want to take for granted what you have,” explained St. John’s Academy principal Charles Stastny. “And you want to be willing to share what you have – be willing to do with less.”

About 20 students from the Anne Carlsen Center are staying at the Zebedee Center since the threat of overland flooding prompted an evacuation of the Center campus on March 23. These students had initially spent about two weeks at the Jamestown Civic Center, but that area was needed for public sandbagging operations as flooding effected more and more of the city.

The first official meeting between students came a few days after students from ACC had settled into their new surroundings.

“There had been some curious students,” said ACC teacher Adrianne Dempsey. “They would peek around the corner and see what we were up to.”

Just before Easter, a St. John’s class of pre-schoolers joined Center students around tables in the Zebedee Center to dye eggs. As pastel shades overtook white shells, students made introductions and learned more about one another.

“We all have crosses to carry, every day of our lives,” says Stastny. “But we all fit into His picture. I’m a big advocate for doing whatever you can do and having students build on their skill levels and create that sense of accomplishment.”

Students from the Anne Carlsen Center
and St. John’s Academy pick up
garbage around the school as
part of Earth Day 2009.

Earth Day

The next time classes got together was for another celebration – one for the planet. The students celebrated the 39th Earth Day with a cooperative cleaning effort.

“We talked with (St. John’s Academy second grade teacher) Tammy (Gapinski) and came to the conclusion that community service was the best way to go,” said Sarah Duven, one of the teachers with the Center.

Gapinski’s class of second graders paired up with ACC students and, after introductions were made, the group went to work to clean up Earth. Plastic bags were passed around and all of the students began gathering garbage that had collected around St. John’s Academy.

“The kids are thrilled to be part of this activity and work together,” Gapinski said. “Working as a team has been our motto for the school year.”

On an afternoon when the sun was shining but the air was still crisp, the perfect complement to the weather conditions was moving around outside briskly. The students from St. John’s Academy enjoyed helping the planet, while making new friends.

“I like it because we are helping the Earth,” said Carter Wells, another of the second graders. “And it is neat to see the kids (who often utilize wheelchairs) getting up and walking and picking up trash.”

“We can have a clean Earth without garbage everywhere,” said an excited Tanaya Brahmer, another of the St. John’s Academy students.

Picking up trash in the Jamestown community on Earth Day is one of the many activities ACC students have enjoyed since temporarily relocating to the Zebedee Center. They have also been able to maintain therapy schedules, enjoy adaptive physical education activities, go on field trips, and continue many other aspects of their programming.

To make it a memorable, educational opportunity, the Anne Carlsen Center turned Earth Day into a week-long focus, studying how trash impacts our environment and visiting Jamestown’s Renaissance Recycling to see huge the process of how many materials are recycled.

Return Date

Though a return date to the ACC campus has not yet been set, the students and staff have embraced the change. Each of the relocation sites throughout Jamestown has adopted a camp name. Students at the Zebedee Center have named their site “Camp Flood.”

“We have developed a daily routine – the Camp Flood schedule,” said Dempsey. “It isn’t normal, but it is good.”

When some of the students from the Anne Carlsen Center began living and holding classes at the Zebedee Center, students from St. John’s Academy started using part of the Knights of Columnbus Club for their indoor activities in gym class.

“Yes, we’ve had to adjust, but we are being very flexible,” continued Stastny. “It is the Christian thing to do. God has a plan and we are all part of it.”

After all the garbage was thrown away, Gapinski’s second graders also got the chance to try out some new skills. They have been learning sign language throughout this school year. As some of the students from the Anne Carlsen Center are hearing impaired, this provided a real-world opportunity for all the children to speak with their hands. And on a day when actions help transform the world, this Earth Day team learned that by working together and supporting each other, they can truly make a difference.