Name: Maegan Kirby   School: Fred Elementary
My Story:

My name is Maegan Kirby. I am the physical education teacher at Fred Elementary. During the storm (Hurricane Rita our school housed over 80 nursing home patients. They were cared for by a nursing staff and some of our teachers volunteered and when they ran out of beds they used to gymnastic mats as a bed for some of the less sick. However, in doing so the mats had to be thrown our for various reasons (restroom used on them, different contagious diseases, etc.) We are a very small school and my budget doesn't allow for me to buy even one mat for my class. Also, the roof of our gym was pulled up and it rained inside. I am down to the bare minimum in equipment. Any help that could be given would be very much appreciated. Please contact me using the information below if you can help in any way. Equipment gift certificates would be great. Thanks!!!

Sincerely,
Maegan Kirby

Phone:409-429-3240
Email: mkirby@esc5.net
Mailing Address:
Fred Elementary
P.O. Box 10
140 CR 4650
Fred, TX 77616

Name: Cathy Massengale   School: Mount Carmel Academy
My Story:

My name is Catherine Massengale. I am the chairperson of the Health and Physical Education Department at Mount Carmel Academy in New Orleans, Louisiana. We are an all girls Catholic high school grades 8-12 with an enrollment of 1300. We are accredited by the Southern Association of College and Schools. We have 6 full time Health and Physical Education teachers. I can truly say that they are dedicated, hard working, caring professionals. Our school is located in Lakeview neighborhood 3 blocks from the 17th Street Canal, which was breached after Hurricane Katrina hit our coastline. As a result of this catastrophe, our school was devastated with 10-12 feet of flood water. Our gym facilities and the equipment room were destroyed. I am asking for assistance in the form of equipment (or Gift Certificates for PE equipment) - not money. When I contacted PE Central I was asked what our greatest need would be. I honestly had to pause for a moment. I started my mental list and began with balls - basketballs, footballs, soccer balls. Then I realized that virtually everything we had assembled over the last decade was gone. In short, we need everything.

I have been teaching Health and Physical Education for 24 years. The last 20 have been at Mount Carmel Academy. Never in all of my 24 years of teaching have I encountered any challenge such as this. The damage is indescribable. We are determined to rebuild our beloved school. In addition, many of our students have lost everything. We are planning to re-open on January 17th, 2006 and rebuild our strong community at Mount Carmel Academy. We are committed to helping our students overcome their losses and begin the healing process. The focus within our department will be on physical exercise and emotional wellness. We hope to accomplish this by getting our students back to school and back in our classes complete with equipment. Only with your help will we be able to accomplish this goal. Please contact me using any of the contact information provided below. Thank you very much and may God bless you!
Sincerely,
Catherine Massengale

Cell Phone: 985-789-6631
Email: cmassengale@mcacubs.org
Donation/Shipping Address:

Mount Carmel Academy
C/O Schrios Shoes and Uniforms
4948 West Esplande Avenue
Metairie, Louisiana 70006

NOTE: The shipping/donation address listed above is being used because our school cannot accept ANY deliveries at this time. No USPS, FedEx, or UPS, etc. can be delivered into zip code 70124. The address above is really the ONLY place we have to put equipment. PODS and self storage are not to be found within about 100 miles. Storage of any equipment at this time is not possible, so please send anything to Schrios.

Donations/Help so Far (11/14/05)

Valerie M sent some field hockey sticks and jump ropes.

I just received your story via P.E. Central and you have my thoughts and prayers for recovery, both personally and as an institution. How is the recovery going? I taught in a Catholic school before it closed, thus I have a place in my heart for private education. How can I help? Are you still in need of gift certificates for equipment? If so, do you work with a certain company? PE Teacher, VA.

I am sorry for the devastation experienced by you, your school and your students. I read your story on PE Central and am willing to provide some help. I have a $100 US Games certificate from Jump Rope for Heart that I have not used yet that I can send to you. In addition, we have some used but usable basketballs, footballs and softballs that I could send to you. My students love Punt, Pass and Kick so we receive two footballs each year and have purchased quite a few too so have more than we really need. PE Teacher, WI.

Hi Cathy: We had our dress down day today for your school and we raised 446 dollars. Is there a particular place you would a gift certificate form to purchase your sports equipment? Thanks. Val

I saw your story on PE central. Do you still need PE equipment and of what time? My advisory class is willing to help out. Thank you. Kim Cooper

Dear Donna and Catherine: I am going to send you some equipment. I ordered some equipment from my budget this year. Is it OK if the equipment is slightly used? Or do you only want only new equipment. I am a Adapted PE teacher here in Minnesota. I am so sorry for your tragedy. Watching the news and hearing what was going on just hurt me. I want to help any way I can. You both are in my prayers! Jeffrey A. Ritchley, DAPE Teacher

Name: Eric Kugler  
My Story:

I wasn't in the city when the storm hit, instead I was safe and sound in my home some 1,600 miles away on Long Island, New York. In a few weeks i had rounded up some friends, a car, some gear and we headed down to help in anyway we could. We have been gutting houses and serving folks free food for almost 3 months now with a group called "Welcome Home New Orleans", with good nutritious food we serve our neighbors and send them on their way with energy and love to rebuild their lives.

Now that our kitchen is cookin' it is time to focus on our original project, PE for Peace- A non-profit which strives to help stabilize the lives of both youth and adult athletes through proper nutrition, sport and old fashioned fun in times of disaster. We are hoping to rehabilitate playing fields, courts, tracks, pools and the like as well as provide a safe environment for children to exercise, compete, and stay healthy.

We don't need much, one of the main goals of the program is to show the importance of recycling in a time of need, opposed to the popular produce and consume attitude which is practiced all too often here in the city.

We are looking for any used sports equipment to create an equipment "library" as well as help to replace what was lost to individual athletes in the storm. Baseball gloves, bats, bases, basketballs, practice cones, football, football flags, playground balls, and the like.

We are working with local groups including the big sports teams (Saints and Hornets), our local United Way, as well as the cities Recreation Department and individuals who also understand the importance of physical education, exercise, and competition. We wish you the best during your school year and appreciate this forum to bring PE teachers closer to our goal. Thank you kindly!

Any questions or comments can be sent to: PE4peace@gmail.com
Attn: Eric Kugler
*Shipping address available upon request

Name: MaryRuby Sellier   School: DeLisle/Pass Christian Elementary School
My Story:

My name is MaryRuby Sellier. I am the physical education teacher at Pass Christian, MS, Elementary School. Katrina destroyed our school with high winds and a wall of water 30 ft. high. The school district's rural elementary school had 40 inches of water in it and that school is 5 miles from the beach. In fact all of the schools in Pass Christian were destroyed, elementary, middle and part of the high school. As we have had to combine our schools on the rural school grounds in DeLisle, the elementary students have no gym. We either have PE in a very small area of the school grounds or in the classroom. Most of our PE equipment has been replaced through generous donations. The only items that we would love to have are 2 free standing basketball goals. Please contact me below if you can help. Thanks so much!

Phone: 228-669-9541
Email: racinmoma4s@aol.com
Donation/Shipping Address:

DeLisle/Pass Christian Elementary School
6303 W. Wittman Road
Pass Christian, MS 39571

Name: Dale Neaves   School: St. Martin Upper Elementary
My Story:

On August 29th, Hurrican Katrina came ashore and sent over 12 feet of water into our school for 6 hours, destroying it and everything inside. As a teacher with 25 years of experience in the same school district, it was hard to see what had happened to our schools and community. We began school again on October 3rd, going on split shifts with our high school and on January 3rd moved into our temporary trailers. It has been rumored to be temporary for 2 years! My adjustments from gyms for class activities to one-half of a trailer has been interesting. The spirits of the children and the entire Gulf Coast are strong and we will rebuild. My needs are storage equipment, portable basketball goals, and general PE equipment. Thanks. Dale Neaves

Below is our link showing the damage
www.jcsd.k12.ms.us/katrina/katrina.htm

Phone: 228-818-2849
Fax: 228-818-0425
Email: dneaves@jaco.k12.ms.us
Donation/Shipping Address:

St. Martin Upper Elementary
10910 YellowJacket Blvd
Ocean Springs, MS 39564

Name: Danna Trotter   School: Waveland Elementary School
My Story:

My school was destroyed by the storm surge and flooding. I lost all of my PE equipment that was held in trailers due to wetness, mold, and mildew. Everything is GONE! I feel sadness and useless as a physical education instructor. Jump ropes, scooters, balls, hoops, PE curriculums, whistles, tumbling mats...it is all GONE! I feel helpless to my students because I have nothing to start with. I want my PE program back on track so I can continue on helping my students to stay fit! Please contact me using the information below if you can help. If you want to send a donation of equipment please mail to the school address below making sure to put it to my attention. Thanks for reading.
Sincerely,
Danna Trotter, Physical Education Teacher

Cell Phone: 985-285-6702
Email Address: danna_trotter2552@yahoo.com
School Address: Waveland Elementary, 1101 St. Joseph Street, Waveland, MS 39576
Home Address/Phone: 4319 Sandy Lane, Slidell, LA 70460 ph: 985-847-9663

Donations/Help so Far (11/14/05)

Dear Donna and Catherine: I am going to send you some equipment. I ordered some equipment from my budget this year. Is it OK if the equipment is slightly used? Or do you only want only new equipment. I am a Adapted PE teacher here in Minnesota. I am so sorry for your tragedy. Watching the news and hearing what was going on just hurt me. I want to help any way I can. You both are in my prayers! Jeffrey A. Ritchley, DAPE Teacher

I have gift certificates I would like to send to the newest request for help waveland? Hi Sheila. Got your response. Thanks a lot. The gift certificate would be great. You can mail the gift certificate to my school address below. Attn: Danna C. Trotter. I will inform my principal and to my students about your gracious offer. Thank-you again!

Name: Kenny Guess   School: Second Street Elementary
My Story:

Hello, My name is Kenny Guess and I am the Physical Education teacher at Second Street Elementary which is located in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. Our school was flooded by Katrina and even though the main building is still there, the company that is cleaning it has said we will not be able to use it again because of the mold and other contaminates. Our fourth grade building, which was a building addition several years ago, will be leveled for the same reasons. The only reason the main building will not be leveled is due to it's historic significance. The 19 new portable classrooms that have been set up are very nice but they were put on the only place that was available -- my outside PE activity area! Not only did I lose every piece of equipment but I lost my area for activity! What I have left is a small area behind the portable classrooms that is still a mess from the clean up and installation of classrooms. It is mud and filled with debris. Every time I look for a solution to our problem, I run into a brick wall. How can I teach my subject without a play area? I am working on getting this small area leveled, cleaned and ready to use but it's so depressing. After 34 years of teaching physical education I may be looking at ending my career because of Katrina, not because I want to retire. I still love what I do but as I told my students, I can't give you what you deserve.

If you can help, I could use some cones to mark boundaries and play areas, beach balls 24"-32" for inside use since I share a portable classroom with the art and music teachers, plastic bats, foam balls, a stop watch, volleyball net, velcro dart board or target games for inside use, and anything that you can help with in regards to physical education equipment. Our school has about 350 students in grades 4th and 5th. We opened with about 30% of our kids. We expect them to return slowly since so many people here lost not only their homes but jobs as well. We will recover and rebuild because our people are resilient and hard working but it's going to take time and help from those that can. Thank you for taking a moment to read our story and God bless.
Sincerely,
Kenny Guess, Second Street Elementary

Home Phone: 228-255-0990
Email Address: kgg48@msn.com
School Address: Second Street Elementary, 400 N. Second St., Bay St. Louis, MS 39520, School PH: 228-467-4052 (not working at present time)

Name: Patricia Sager   School: NorthBay Elementary
My Story:

My name is Patricia Sager and I am the Physical Education teacher at NorthBay Elem. We have 139 students back out of 312. Our K-3 school was completely destroyed. As I write, FEMA is bulldozing our little school with everything in it. All P.E. equipment is gone. I would be thankful for any help. Gift certificates would probably work best. I especially need 8 1/2" rubber playground balls. I had 144 deflated, brand new ones. The company will not replace them. I also could use any size orange cones. Our school address is 740 Dunbar Ave. Bay St. Louis, MS 39520. Our school computers are gone. My personal e-mail address is dar602002@yahoo.com. At this time my phone service has not been restored hence no computer service. I will try to pull up my e-mail address at my in-laws. Thank you for your help and God Bless
Sincerely,
Patricia Sager, NorthBay Elementary

Home Phone: No service yet
Email Address: dar602002@yahoo.com
School Address: NorthBay Elementary, 740 Dunbar Ave. Bay St. Louis, MS 39520