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Schechter Life | High School
Katrina III Mission Updates
To see a slideshow of pictures from the Katrina Mission, click here.
December 4th -Day Three:
As we near the 72 hour mark of this trip it is amazing to think about all that our students have accomplished.
Our 20 students have:
- Spent time working in the classrooms of a very underprivileged elementary school in Westwego, LA and brought smiles to the faces of hundreds of kids.
- Toured the devastation in many parts of the greater New Orleans area and have the ability to now bring the message home to their friends and family about the realities of New Orleans 3+ years after the storm.
- Spoken with Robert Green about the trials and tribulations of life in NOLA post-Katrina and what it means to put the pieces of your life back together.
- Met and spoken with Brad Pitt.
- Worked tirelessly for two days with Habitat for Humanity, the result of which has yielded 4 houses now even closer to closing before the end of the year.
- Worked through rain and well past quitting time in order to finish the tasks they started.
- Bonded in a way that is wonderful not only for them as individuals but definitely for the school as a whole.
- Learned the true meaning of tikkun olam.
- Learned that one person can make a difference and that a group of people working together can truly accomplish anything they put their minds to.
Our students are walking away from New Orleans with so many new thoughts and ideas. It is our job, as family members, classmates, teachers and friends to help them carry on and learn and grow so that they can continue to develop that thinking and most importantly – continue to effect change.
I speak on behalf of Mr. Lederman and Ms. Himmelstein when I tell you how proud we all are of this superb, hard-working group of young adults. As I told the students tonight, I have the great privilege of working with them every day – I know how wonderful they are – but to be able to bring them down to New Orleans and showcase them to so many others who now feel the same way about them is quite awesome for me.
Adam Shapiro
Dean of Students
December 3rd - Day Two:
We've just wrapped up another packed, exhausting and completely rewarding day. We woke up early this morning, had a wonderful Shacharit service together and then set out for our Habitat for Humanity site just south of us on the banks of the Mississippi River. We arrived to find a very dilapidated area of town and after driving down a few streets full of broken down homes, we arrived at a block called Ferry Place where there were 7 Habitat houses being built. The houses are quite colorful and show signs that life is really returning to this area.
While I am not going to go into great detail about what we did all day I will tell you this... Our students worked in and around 4 of the houses, helped with siding, cement mixing, ground grading, molding cutting and staircase building to name just a few things. As our great Habitat guide, Adam, told us, in our one day of work we did the equivalent of two days worth of house labor. The reality in New Orleans today is that it is not overflowing with volunteers. Had we not been down today these houses would have been further delayed and the prospect of these families getting in before Christmas would have been pretty far-fetched idea.
I think that the best thing to tell you is that when we all got back on the bus, dirty and exhausted, there was an incredible sense of pride and self-worth amongst our students. They might only be 16 and 17 year olds but they began to understand today what the meaning of tikkun olam really is. As Mr. Lederman, Ms. Himmelstein and I got back on the bus today we said to each other, almost simultaneously, “I’m really proud of these kids.” They worked their hearts out from start to finish and amazed us all at every step of the way.
After returning home from our site today we had some time to relax and then had a great dinner at Casablanca followed by a trip to a real New Orleans landmark – Rock n’ Bowl. The students had a blast bowling and listening to some great live Swing Dancing music.
All in all it was a terrific day. I can tell you with the utmost sincerity how wonderful and dedicated our students are. As I said before, they are living the concept of tikkun olam this week and it is an incredible thing to be a part of.
Adam Shapiro
Dean of Students
December 2nd - Day One:
As our first day draws to a close I wanted to take a moment to update you on all of the things that our students did today.
As you all know, our day started at SSDSEU at 4:30 a.m., we boarded our bus, 20 boxes in hand, made it through security and even had a moment to spare to buy a snack before departure. Our flight was smooth and we hit the ground running. Our friends at Westwego Elementary School were so excited to have us back and our students were welcomed, with open arms, into their classrooms. I know that I speak for Mr. Lederman and Ms. Himmelstein when I say how proud we were of our students. They showed kindness and compassion, helped the students with skills ranging from Math to basketball, and brought hundreds of smiles to the faces of the Westwego students – it was a fantastic way to start the trip.
From the school we were off on our tour of the devastated areas of New Orleans which, unfortunately, are still very visible to all visitors. Our driver took us through the Lower 9th Ward where our students saw entire neighborhoods that were wiped out. As you will see in the pictures we were very fortunate to jump off the bus and meet with a gentleman by the name of Robert Green. Mr. Green lost his granddaughter and mother in Katrina and yet still remains, living in a FEMA trailer, in one of the worst areas of destruction in the region. He invited us into the trailers to see what they were like, told us his story, but instead of focusing on the tragedy he spoke beautifully about the hope he feels for the future. He explained to our students that their work in New Orleans is incredible and much appreciated and that every little act of kindness goes a long, long way. As you go through the pictures you will see Mr. Green, the trailers that he lives in and the memorials that he has set up outside of his home – he is truly an incredible man and the students, without a doubt, benefited tremendously from that experience.
In addition to our meeting with Mr. Green in the Lower 9th, we were also very fortunate to meet Brad Pitt – yes, THE Brad Pitt. Thanks to the hard work and perseverance on the part of our own Mr. Lederman, we were able to catch Brad’s eye and call him over to our group. He spent a few minutes talking to us and even took the time to get into a group picture with us! It was great not only to see him, but also to see the fruit of his labor in the houses that he is building in the Lower 9th that are completely energy efficient and independent of the power grid. The reason that Brad Pitt was there was to do an interview (via satellite) with Ellen and when he came over to our group the cameras followed behind. It was not only a daunting experience for me to talk to him face to face; I had to do it with the little red light flashing on the camera!
Our day finished with a lovely dinner at Shir Chadash, the Conservative Synagogue in Metairie, LA. Our friend Karen Lew, who has worked with us for the past 3 trips, prepared a great meal for our students and we had the opportunity to hear from Ned Goldberg, the Director of the Jewish Children’s Regional Service, about the wonderful programs we were supporting with our donation of $1,325 to his cause.
All in all it was a great day and we are looking forward to our first day of building tomorrow.
Adam Shapiro
Dean of Students
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