美国国家公共电台 NPR When Florence Hit Her School Community, This Principal Stepped Up

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

In North Carolina, more than 60,000 students are starting another week without school. Their districts are still taking stock of the damage caused by Hurricane Florence, and many of the students and teachers who evacuated¹ are still far from home. WUNC's Lisa Philip has the story of one Wilmington community scattered² by the storm.

KRISTA HOLLAND: Yeah. I'm walking like I know where I'm going. I really don't.

LISA PHILIP, BYLINE³: Krista Holland is the principal of Anderson Elementary School in Wilmington, where the storm made landfall. But today she's about 170 miles away in Chapel⁴ Hill. She's searching a storm shelter for any of her students who may be staying there. Then she recognizes a young man wearing ear buds⁵.

HOLLAND: Oh, yes you - you remember me, Ms. Holland?

DELICHIA PRINGLE: Yes, I do remember you.

HOLLAND: From Gregory - oh, my gosh.

PHILIP: Turns out he's a former student. He doesn't remember, but his mom, Delichia Pringle, does.

PRINGLE: The principal, Ty (ph). He done got older. That's why.

HOLLAND: Yeah. What grade is he in now?

PRINGLE: Seventh.

HOLLAND: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Oh.

PRINGLE: He's about to be 14.

PHILIP: Holland is concerned about the uncertainty⁶ students like Ty are facing. She worries about that more than the physical damage to Anderson Elementary.

HOLLAND: The lack of a sense of normalcy for the kids. And I think that's where my heart aches the most.

PHILIP: As for herself, she evacuated and is staying with family in Raleigh. Folks who stayed behind have told her her home is mostly unscathed and her school has some water damage.

HOLLAND: Nothing that can't be cleaned up and repaired, and it probably will not take long.

PHILIP: Like their principal, many Anderson Elementary students and staff are facing a lot of unknowns. They've been away from home and school for more than a week, and their classes have been canceled at least through this week, too.

HOLLAND: Then the unknown of not knowing when you're going to get home and what may be waiting for you or not waiting for you.

PHILIP: Some parents were able to turn their evacuations into fun getaways. Others like Meghan Digby stayed in Wilmington and sent their kids out of town. Digby has been separated from her 6-year-old daughter for over a week now.

MEGHAN DIGBY: We obviously had no idea that we would be cut off from each other for so long. I'm trying to stay calm and wait for more roads to clear up so that she can come back. But there's a lot of rumors⁷ circling about how long it might take.

PHILIP: Digby took comfort in a phone recording⁸ that Principal Holland sent parents a few days ago. In it, she sent love to students and their families.

DIGBY: And I was actually working on a puzzle just trying to keep my mind busy. And when it came through, I put it on speakerphone. And it made me cry just hearing how much she cared.

PHILIP: At the Chapel Hill shelter, Holland is carrying bags of toys she bought for the kids there. She sets them down next to a stack of diapers.

HOLLAND: I brought bubbles, a couple of hula hoops⁹. I could only find one jump-rope. I have footballs so if they get outside.

PHILIP: Holland says giving back is front and center at Anderson. A couple years ago, students and staff collected supplies for a North Carolina town that was flooded after Hurricane Matthew. Last year, it was a Hats for Houston fundraiser after Hurricane Harvey.

HOLLAND: And now we are going to be on the receiving end of help and support. And I think for our kids there will be valuable lessons to see that sometimes, you know, you give and you help other people.

PHILIP: And that sometimes, she says, it's OK to know that you're going to get help back. For NPR News, I'm Lisa Philip in Durham, N.C.

(SOUNDBITE OF SOFT EYEZ'S "CLASSROOM NAPS")

1 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

2 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

5 buds   

芽( bud的名词复数 )； 苞； 半开的花； 未长大的叶

参考例句：

• the first buds appearing in spring 春天的初芽
• Willow trees breaking out into buds foretell the coming of spring. 柳枝绽青报春来。

6 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

7 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

9 hoops   

n.箍( hoop的名词复数 )；（篮球）篮圈；（旧时儿童玩的）大环子；（两端埋在地里的）小铁弓

参考例句：

• a barrel bound with iron hoops 用铁箍箍紧的桶
• Hoops in Paris were wider this season and skirts were shorter. 在巴黎，这个季节的裙圈比较宽大，裙裾却短一些。 来自飘（部分）