Education
Rebuilding After the Storm The Oaks Adventist Christian School Counts Blessings After Hurricane Harvey By Makala James More than a year after record-setting Hurricane Harvey made landfall, the damage done to Texas still seems harrowingly fresh. This is no surprise, considering that 50 inches of rain flooded homes, schools and more. Many people are still struggling to recover from the category four hurricane, yet the Oaks Adventist Christian School (the Oaks) in Cypress, Texas, is able to count many blessings that resulted from the tragedy. “I have seen the Lord bless us repeatedly,” says Brenda Elms, the Oaks elementary school principal and Kindergarten teacher. “I can only praise the
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Lord!” It took two weeks to gain access to the Oaks campus after the hurricane. Even then, staff needed a boat to reach campus. The gym, sitting on high ground, sustained 18 inches of water damage. The elementary school became flooded by seven feet of water. “It looked like there was a lake around the school,” remembers Lily Hernandez, treasurer for the Oaks. “We needed a boat just to get on campus. It was horrible. At the time I felt no hope at all. I don’t think I will ever forget that feeling.” Faculty and staff decided to do everything possible to continue providing Seventh-day Adventist education. Even
before plans could be made, people from all reaches of the world began to offer help. The gymnasium became a temporary classroom for all grades. Wooden partitions, built by volunteers, separated each class. On September 3, 2017, nearly 300 volunteers from all over the Southwestern Union gathered to remove debris and clean the school. This helped the school to compile an inventory of needed items. It also made it possible for classes to resume, on campus, just three weeks after the storm. “The Lord has blessed us,” says Hernandez. “Now I can definitely see that