|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |||||||||
| | ||||||||
|
Contact: Jenni Brockman Phone: 804-443-3357 Fax: 804-443-6781 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tappahannock (September 22, 2003) - Boarding schools like St. Margaret's have a unique responsibility to take care of their students. So when Hurricane Isabel headed for Tappahannock, the school's faculty and staff swung into action, providing a safe harbor in the storm for the 17 boarders who chose to stay on campus. 
Photo left:
These students, faculty and staff together weathered Hurricane Isabel at St. Margaret's School.
"It's times like these that demonstrate the value of living in community, both that of our school and the larger Essex-Tappahannock area," said Head of School Margaret R. Broad. "Dorm parents and other faculty did a wonderful job, as did our maintenance, housekeeping and food service staffs. In addition, we greatly appreciated being a part of the county's emergency planning process, which helped us prepare." Most of the students who remained on campus during the hurricane came from long distances that prevented them from returning home, including Kentucky, Florida, Texas, Korea, Mexico and Honduras. They were joined in basement of the school's biggest dormitory by Broad, who stayed with them until danger had passed, along with 11 residential faculty and staff. The girls waited out Isabel by drawing and painting with the school's resident artists, playing board games with dorm parents and admission staff, and singing along with a guitar-strumming teacher. After the storm, they used cell phones to let their families know they were safe, then helped pick up branches and rake fallen leaves. St. Margaret's campus weathered the hurricane nearly as well as its students, faculty and staff. Buildings sustained little damage; however, the dock, boathouse and some large tree limbs were lost [ more pictures ]. Power was restored to the campus on Sunday afternoon, classes were scheduled to resume Tuesday, and soon the school's "storm survivors" will be sporting special T-shirts that students designed during the hurricane. |
 |