Memories of Hurricane Ida are preserved in book published by St. Matthew the Apostle fourth graders

By BETH DONZE
Clarion Herald

Knowing that her own home – along with the homes of many of her students – had been socked by Hurricane Ida, St. Matthew the Apostle fourth-grade teacher Jeannine Thibodeaux was feeling a mixture of joy and dread when classes resumed on Sept. 13.

Thibodaux was elated that all of her fourth graders would be returning to campus – unlike the loss of so many children following Hurricane Katrina. But she also worried that her 9- and 10-year-olds would be shell-shocked after experiencing the first major storm of their young lives, just weeks into the school year.

“It was very emotional for all of us,” recalled Thibodeaux, who teaches English/language arts and social studies at the River Ridge school. “But I told them on our first day back, ‘I want you to know that at least we’re here together; God has brought us here together so that we can support each other, no matter what we have going on.’”

That was the genesis of “Surviving Hurricane Ida,” a compilation of the fourth graders’ first-person accounts of Aug. 29, 2021 and its aftermath. The book, published by Student Treasures of Topeka, Kansas, also contains the authors’ illustrations – images that recall everything from snapped power lines, to missing roof shingles, to state maps showing evacuation locations.

On Nov. 2, the 33 fourth graders received the first copies of their book at an afternoon cookie party and book signing.

“I want to thank you all for the hard work you put in! You should be so proud of yourselves!” Thibodeaux told them, after distributing books and certificates to each fourth grader, trumpeting: “I’m a published author!”

The student essays were done as a writing project that took up part of language arts classes for about a month. The students learned that the book publication process didn’t mean simply turning in a couple of paragraphs for a grade; their pieces went through three peer edits before going to Thibodeaux, who discussed the essays with their authors in a one-on-one conference.

“I had all of their drafts, so I could show them, ‘This is where your story started and look at where you are now! Your structure is so much better. Your spelling is so much better!’” Thibodeaux said.

“I just wanted them to release whatever emotions that they had and know that everybody’s story was important,” she added. “Some evacuated before the storm and returned to devastation, and others lived through the storm.”

Although the damage to fourth grader Brooklyn Barrios’ house included moldy walls, she documented some lighter moments from her evacuation to the beach in her essay entitled “Hiding from the Storm.” Brooklyn “found a shell that had Saints colors,” had fun searching for crabs and was stung by a jellyfish.

During her evacuation to Mississippi, fourth grader Aubrey Berry rescued a puppy “inches away from getting hit by a car.”

“He dodged it,” Aubrey writes. “We named him Tyler, and we call him Ty Ty. When I got home, my house was fine.”

Cognizant that most of the fourth graders were born in 2011 – six years after Hur

ricane Katrina – St. Matthew principal Tony Bonura told the young authors he regrets not keeping his own journal back in 2005. But thanks to the book, future St. Matthew students would know all about Ida.

“I picture you sharing this (book) with your own kids,” Bonura told them.

Although Ida destroyed his bedroom, fourth grader Tyler Bergeron said the book project provided an outlet for his sadness.

“I like that Mrs. Thibodeaux gave us a chance to write a book,” Tyler said, “and I think we did pretty good the first time.”