Big Picture South Burlington traveled to Moretown and Waterbury on September 2nd to help with flood relief following Hurricane Irene. It was so much worse that I had expected, with many houses seeing water levels of 5-6 feet. We hauled mud from flooded homes and basements, picked up household items littering all the yards and river beds (tires, blankets, etc that got stuck in trees when the water receded!) While there was relatively little human suffering in terms of injury or death, thousands of families were displaced from their homes and lost everything. Many were finding that their insurance coverage was not going to help them rebuild.
On the positive side, it was great to see all the volunteers working side-by-side with homeowners, so there was a wonderful camaraderie, and it was moving to hear the people who we would approach to help say, over and over, “well, we’re doing okay, but do you know who REALLY needs help?” and go on to describe a neighbor, especially elderly ones, who were probably in greater need. We worked with one young man for over an hour, hauling muddy items out of a flooded basement in almost total darkness (no electricity in the house, and no windows in the basement, so just the light from the storm cellar door). At the end of that job, on of our students asked the man we were working with, “So, do you live here?” The young man said no, that he lived next door, but the woman who owned this house was in her 90′s and he decided to help her first. He hadn’t taken a moment to attend to his own home and belongings until he had taken care of his neighbor.
Big Picture South Burlington is an innovative school-within-a-school, serving students who are looking for more meaning in their high school education. Students work with faculty to design their own individualized curriculum based on their passions, skills, and goals. Students learn through internships, independent projects, workshops, travel, and group experiences. At Big Picture we believe that education is everyone’s business. Learning opportunities are everywhere, not just inside classrooms. Research tells us that we learn best when we’re personally motivated. When we have a passion for what we are doing, knowledge unfolds and evolves naturally.