Johnson County students return to class after Helene
JOHNSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) – Students at Johnson County Schools were back in the classroom Wednesday for the first time since Hurricane Helene hit in late September.
Schools were out for over a month, making it a challenge for teachers and staff to find a way to make up for the time lost. Johnson County High School is working to find a solution to make sure students are able to get back on track.
The high school's principal, Stephen Long, told News Channel 11 that being back was a big relief, and his main priority for the first day back was to make sure students know they have people they can talk to.
"We have a counselor from Frontier that's here all the time and we've just asked our teachers to, and all of our employees to be vigilant, if they see students that don't seem to be thriving or that seem to be going through things to refer them," Long said.
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Long said that Johnson County school buildings experienced little to no damage from the storm but because of the damaged roads, students could not safely get to school.
"The roads in many parts of the county were severely damaged and compromised," said Long. "One area of the community, the Trade community, which is going between here and Boone, North Carolina, those roads are still in rough shape in places but the busses are running on safe routes."
Road issues and route delays will be an ongoing issue for the county schools in the future as road crews work to fix the destruction Hurricane Helene caused.
Abigail Wilson teaches math at the high school and she has been working with other teachers to try and find a way to make sure students are not behind in the curriculum.
"Today was a major review day," Wilson said. "Myself, as well as my other Algebra I teacher, are closely working together to make sure that we're hitting those major standards and making sure that we hit the major content that we maybe move a little faster over the less important content that they'll have the opportunity to learn again in Algebra II."
Wilson said she believes that although it has been a month off of school she is optimistic that the rest of the year will be successful.
"I think with the care and the love from teachers, we're able to bridge that gap," Wilson said. "We're all trying we're all making progress and we'll get as far as we get."
