On Sept. 22 and 23, eighth-grade students at Brother Martin High School participated in “Hurricane Katrina Stories” in remembrance of the devastating storm that made landfall 15 years ago on Aug. 30, 2005. Over the course of these two days, students were treated to guest speakers at Brother Martin sharing their personal accounts from their lives in 2005.

Amy Peavey, Social Studies instructor, said, “Teaching our students about Hurricane Katrina is essential because so many of their families were forever changed by the events surrounding Hurricane Katrina. Katrina occurred 15 years ago, and our eighth graders were not even born. We want them to understand not only how important it is to be prepared for weather events, but also how to be helpers if the unthinkable should happen in the future. We are also hoping that by teaching them about these events now, some of them go on to become problem solvers to ensure that our community is protected against another hurricane in the future.” English teachers Melanie Scott, Hannah Plummer, and Thomas Mavor all say that this topic lends itself to investigation and research, allowing students to use library resources and learn the skills of summarizing and reporting.

This event coincides with the students’ reading of Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans by Don Brown and their participation in panels and activities in their English and World Geography classes.