WHEELER COUNTY, Ga. — After staying closed for nine days, Wheeler County Elementary students returned to school in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
The "Wheeler Strong" community banded together to help put the pieces of their community back together, including some of the students.
"We had to help our neighbor out they have much bigger trees so we had to use a trailer for our backyard and their backyard," Kintergarden student Fletcher said.
Getting back to a sense of normalcy was a community-wide effort.
"I was helping my daddy pull trees off neighbors' houses with the four-wheeler," student Jackson said.
To help support neighbors in need, people shared what they had with one another whether it be skillful work or donations.
"We had loggers, anybody with heavy equipment volunteering time and services," Assistant Principal Kim Stinson said. "We had electricians getting generators running, and a whole lot of community members set up around town helping emergency operations run."
It doesn't matter if you're big or small, old or young; a helping hand goes a long way.
"We cleaned up a lot of limbs and stuff because the winds were so strong," student Brody said. "They were knocking off shingles, blowing tin everywhere, so it was a big thing for the whole community to help."
Principal Quent Floyd said they're trying to make up for the days the kids had no routine, in addition to the storm's aftermath.
"We also had some unfortunate loss of life here in Wheeler County," Floyd said. "Those sort of things are hard to recover from but getting back into a routine and picking up where we left off is our goal."
A goal they achieved this week as students returned to class on Monday.
Teachers, administrators and students were excited to get back to class.
Several kids said they missed seeing their friends and playing on the playground.
Some students weren't able to make it to school, but Floyd said no one's penalized for their absences during this recovery stage.
"We haven't had 100% attendance, but that's ok," the principal said. "Those kids that could come are welcome. Those kids that could not, we did not count their attendance against them because we understand parents want to keep them home for various reasons."
Some kids had to stay home while they were sick during the first few days of the return to school, but said they looked forward to getting back to class.
Others said they couldn't stay at their home because there wasn't any power or internet.
"We had to go to other people's houses," Jackson said.
But the community banded together staying Wheeler Strong.
"You could go to different neighborhoods, and they were having cookouts with meals ready to go," fifth-grade teacher Mary Frances Van Houton said. "It has taken a whole village."
Congratulations to 13WMAZ's School of the Week: Wheeler County Elementary School!
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