These pictures of the Harper McCaughan Elementary School and the following letter serve as a reminder to all of us of the power of nature and the power of people to make a difference in the lives of others. As you look at them, notice what is similar to objects we would find in Exeter, NH, 2000 miles away. Imagine if this had been our town. Click on each picture to see a larger image. PLEASE HELP!!

To Whom It May Concern:

My name is Eddie Holmes and I am the principal of Harper McCaughan Elementary School in Long Beach Mississippi. As you may have heard our school was destroyed by the Hurricane Katrina. We lost not only the buildings but everything else as well. One of our buildings had over 8 feet of water in it and all of the others had as much as 6 feet of water.

On Friday August 26^th Harper McCaughan housed as many as 500 students from grades K thru grade 5. On Monday Oct. 3^rd when we returned to school we had lost as many as 150 students. We now have 350 students enrolled.  We have teachers that have accumulated years of resource supplies and now they find themselves with nothing. We are teaching now in another school and our teachers are sharing rooms with the teachers of Quarles elementary. Quarles teachers go to school from 7 a.m. to 12:00 noon and McCaughan teachers go to school from 12:30 to 5:30. These conditions are not easy but necessary to get our students back in school.

We have had help from many outside sources, but we still find ourselves in need of certain things math manipulatives, certain supplies that we forget about until we need them.

I worry about the students and their families. We would like for this year to be as normal as possible. I would like for all of our students to have school pictures and a yearbook. This will be impossible for some of our families at this time. Our school makeup is one of 63% free and reduced lunch before the storm. I know that for parents who have lost everything would never be able to afford these things now. As I stated before we have about 350 students now at school and out of those 68 are coming from homes that are completely destroyed. Many more live in homes tat were not destroyed but are damaged so bad they cannot live in them at this point. We also have 14 employees that have lost their homes as well, with many more displaced.

Harper McCaughan is a special place for me. The students, the teachers and the parents are some of the best you will find. Our school is one that would remind you of the old neighborhood type of school. In 1960 I was a first grade student here, in 1979 I got my first teaching job there and in 1999 I returned as the Principal. I plan to retire from this school.

Any help you could provide us would be greatly appreciated.

Eddie Holmes, Principal of Harper McCaughan School