16 / 50
IRMA
HARVEY
Hurricanes Harvey and Irma left their devastating marks on
Texas and Florida—and schools were not spared. Estimates
ranged as high as 8.5 million schoolchildren being out of
school as the result of the hurricanes, and those estimates
don’t even include Puerto Rico, which was battered by both
Irma and Maria.
Hurricane Harvey’s arrival in Texas coincided with the start
of the school year there, and Irma’s powerful path resulted
in Florida Governor Rick Scott ordering all public schools,
state colleges and universities closed for several days.
Some of the largest school districts in the United States
were affected, including the Houston Independent School
District in Texas and Orange County, Broward County,
Miami-Dade County and Hillsborough County in Florida,
where school districts are organized by county.
ILLINOISSCHOOLSPROVIDERELIEF
TOHURRICANEVICTIMS
WeAsked‘HowAreIllinoisSchoolsHelping?’
...andwereoverwhelmedwithstoriesofcompassion
The Houston Independent School District estimated that Hurricane
Harvey caused more than $700 million in damage to its buildings,
and that does not even count the damage to homes occupied by
staff and the families of the 216,000 students in the district.
The photos and vignettes on the following pages paint a portrait of
administrators, staff members, teachers, students and community
members pitching in to do their part to assist the hurricane relief
efforts—and these examples are just the ones that were submitted.
In the aftermath of all of that destruction, Illinois schools all over the
state rose to the occasion and made us all proud!
216