After the Storm



What 8th Graders Can Learn From Katrina

Harbor School 8th grade students wrote their thoughts after watching AFTER THE STORM.

Here are some excerpts:

  1. "Deshawn had to share a room and bed with his grandmother. Lots of kids are forced to live with their grandparents for various reasons. My grandmother had to stay with us while she looked for a place to stay, and she lived in my room for weeks. So I can relate to Deshawn's situation, and see how it could put a negative aspect into his lifestyle. Sharing a room with anyone can cut down your privacy. It can make you feel irritable because you have to deal with the other person's noise".

    "It is hard for some people to ask for help, even when it is obvious that assistance is needed. Sometimes your pride is on the line. It can damage your reputations to be seen as needy or deprived, and some people are so proud they will endure incredible hardships without asking for help just to maintain their reputation or keep an image up. This can hurt them".

  2. "Desiree was the Stage director in After The Storm. She was full of good energy that filled the set with excitement. She was a mentor to the group. Her coping skills helped her live through the struggles she and her family faced".

    "Griffen also had good energy. He put everything into context and helped the group get through struggles. He went a long time without seeing his mom. He dealt with everything amazingly and added a lot of personality to the set".

    "April had to deal with destruction and loss like others, but also personal struggles such as losing her mom to cancer. I have not had any struggles that can even compare to the ones these teenagers faced. They showed amazing strength throughout the years after Katrina struck. These teens showed me what can be accomplished even in times of distress. If I went through the things they have, I would feel as if my whole life had slipped away from me.  I want to go to New Orleans to better understand the culture. Seeing After The Storm gave me some background of the struggles the people have gone through and the destruction of their city".

  3. "The closest I have ever been to surviving a hurricane was when Vashon had a huge windstorm and power was knocked out. It was nowhere near as devastating as Hurricane Katrina was, though. I remember it being fun---cooking on our woodstove, curling up in blankets and reading by candlelight. Our family, house, and possessions were all fine. Our power came back after about a week, and we moved on. I cannot imagine struggling for years after the storm and having my life torn apart by this one incident. Some issues the kids faced, such as just getting along, keeping up a work ethic, and pushing past small difficulties for a higher goal. These are issues many people face to some degree".

    "When something like a storm or other disaster occurs in a person's life, everything they held dear, every connection and friendship they spent years creating, is destroyed. Sometimes, the only thing they have left is their pride. It is difficult to swallow the only thing you have left and admit you need help. It is difficult to let go of the image of strength as being self-sufficiency and realize it is knowing when to get help. After disasters, people may feel like the only way to forward is to hold onto their pride".

    "I have never visited the South before, and am interested to experience this new culture. I recently went to Mexico and wrote in my journal that being a foreigner was the most beneficial experience I have ever had on a trip. While I will be in the US when I visit New Orleans, it is an entirely different culture than the one I live in, and I will essentially be a "foreigner". This trip will contain many firsts for me---first time in the south, first river trip. I am really looking forward to immersing myself in a new culture for two weeks. I hope to learn from being a foreigner again".

  4. "When I was little my mom went to Illinois to be with her family for a couple of weeks. She left me with my dad which I thought was cool until night. I ended up having to keep her pillow with me in to fall asleep. I got really scared without her and I understand what Griffin was feeling when he said he missed his mom. A week felt like eight months to me when I was little".

    "I hope to gain a better understanding of what true diversity looks like and how if you believe you can, you can make it through everything, including death and destruction. I want to also get the experience that is always talked about when people talk about New Orleans. I want to get the feeling of happiness that is found in the darkest of times".

  5. "Griffin Collins is one of the people who really stood out to me. He was obviously gay and very open about it. He was happy, and joking during practices, and he was also very brave when he had "problems". For example, he went up to Gerry the director of the play and told him he needed to talk.  Another person who stood out to me was Desiree. I am positive during the whole play process, they got hit by anxiety greatly".

    "I live with no mother. My mother, Angel (that was what everyone called her), died when I was four. I remember very clearly when I was told. My dad came to where I was and told me she had died in a car crash. I was devastated, that is when I figured out what death meant. I did not cry then, just knew something was wrong. I did not know that I would never see her again. Now I know and now I live without her. It is hard sometimes when I think about her and remember the times we had, but I live a happy and normal (at least as normal as can be) life. Thought I did not have to live through a hurricane in which my mom was taken, I still do not have a mother".

  6. "On our trip to New Orleans, I am looking forward to meeting people who were in the hurricane and see some of the things they had to live through. I want to see how they survived, get a better understanding of true diversity and help those still in need. I want to gather the idea of art that is different from ours. Lastly, I want to have the beauty of New Orleans melted in my brain, forever. I have never gone through anything like the kids in After The Storm. They all have different but similar horror stories about their experiences. I could not imagine seeing all your belongings ruined, and having to leave my home, or live in a trailer, or share a bed and/or room with my entire family".

    "I cannot wait to go to New Orleans. I am the most excited to see the varied culture. I have never been to the south before. New Orleans is a cultural mixing pot and will be a great place to start. I am also looking forward to doing community service. After seeing After The Storm I feel very inspired and compelled to help".

  7. "All the people in After The Storm were very interesting, but two stood out to me, Griffin and April. Griffin was flamboyant and cheerful. I was impressed that he could be like this and not be sad about what happened in his past. April had a beautiful voice and showed lots of passion about singing and acting. People like this help the world go through tragedies. It was good to see they could all escape their problems for just a few hours a day".

    "I have gone through a lot of problems in my life but I do not think I have been traumatized like they have. I have a tinge of an idea how they might feel about losing a house. I have only owned in 2 houses and all of the other times we have rented. In the second house my parents were getting divorced and my dad refused to work to help us stay in a house, so we lost it. When I was very young we had a house but it was a dangerous neighborhood so we moved. Another way I can relate to these kids is that my dad had a brain press and it almost feels as if I lost him. After that he came out blind and mentally impaired...a totally different person. This felt a death like me, and I know a lot of people that survived Katrina lost a lot of people".

    "During our trip I hope to learn about their daily lives, their religious views, what the people are like and how they function. I want to see their actions and personalities. I am really intrigued and want to learn all I can".

  8. "I liked April. She had a motherly overtone and was especially good at taking care of Eric, the youngest in the cast. She was calm and never had issues with anyone. Her ability to calm Eric down helped in many situations, including one of their pizza lunches where Eric was bouncing off the walls. Gerry McIntyre always gave constructive criticism to the group but sometimes I didn't see what he was criticizing. At one point in the production he ended up relating himself to Deshawn. He said he saw himself in Deshawn he even started crying. April lived alone and her mother died recently. She simply lived life the best she could. She lived in a dead house with a dead mother in her heart and grandmother that was close to death, and yet her spirit was so alive".

    "Recently my grandfather's house burnt down. He was 82 years old. He built the house when he was in his forties. The house has been in our family ever since. He was a carver, and a lot of his work was in that house. My grandmother died 13 years before that and most of my family sees her represented in the house. I got a little taste of what April felt like. Her whole life was swept away. In May I hope to make a difference. I want to let someone in New Orleans know that we, the rest of America, are there to help".