Story of the Week
Fire Evacuees Welcomed To Our School
To the majority of our student body, it was a two-week break from school. To others, it was a moment that will change their lives for years to come. The wildfires that raged across the North Bay during the month of October devastated several of our neighboring counties, forcing citizens to evacuate the scene. NVUSD was forced to close all schools within the district, including our own. American Canyon experienced hazardous air quality and residents were told to stay home as much as possible. Despite this advisory, it did not stop the community from coming together when officials confirmed that American Canyon High School would serve as an evacuation shelter.
In a time of great calamity, confusion, and uncertainty, evacuation sites provided refuge for countless fire victims. Our school was well-prepared to take on this responsibility and welcomed fire evacuees from Calistoga and Napa. The evening it was announced that our school had been designated as an evacuation center, students, teachers, city officials, and citizens who wanted to help came rushing to ACHS. In fact, cars were pulling up for hours around the roundabout, unloading items needed for those who would be staying overnight and in the days to come. Dozens upon dozens of water cases were stacked in the library, a conference room was covered head-to-toe in toiletries, food lined the walls, and students were found putting small boxes together for those who had arrived to our campus. Evacuees were welcomed with warm greetings and entered a gym filled with cots from the Red Cross. A playroom was organized in the upper gym for the children who had arrived, and volunteers interacted with the victims in an effort to ease their worries. By the end of the week, evacuation warnings were lifted in the areas these victims came from, and the surplus of items remaining on site were then donated to those who sought shelter at the Napa Valley College.
By having our very own school become an evacuation center, it gave the community an opportunity to show that we can come together as one to help those in need. Our reaction to the crisis at hand was overwhelmingly positive, and it is our hope that the evacuees who came to the high school felt the wholeheartedness of American Canyon.
In a time of great calamity, confusion, and uncertainty, evacuation sites provided refuge for countless fire victims. Our school was well-prepared to take on this responsibility and welcomed fire evacuees from Calistoga and Napa. The evening it was announced that our school had been designated as an evacuation center, students, teachers, city officials, and citizens who wanted to help came rushing to ACHS. In fact, cars were pulling up for hours around the roundabout, unloading items needed for those who would be staying overnight and in the days to come. Dozens upon dozens of water cases were stacked in the library, a conference room was covered head-to-toe in toiletries, food lined the walls, and students were found putting small boxes together for those who had arrived to our campus. Evacuees were welcomed with warm greetings and entered a gym filled with cots from the Red Cross. A playroom was organized in the upper gym for the children who had arrived, and volunteers interacted with the victims in an effort to ease their worries. By the end of the week, evacuation warnings were lifted in the areas these victims came from, and the surplus of items remaining on site were then donated to those who sought shelter at the Napa Valley College.
By having our very own school become an evacuation center, it gave the community an opportunity to show that we can come together as one to help those in need. Our reaction to the crisis at hand was overwhelmingly positive, and it is our hope that the evacuees who came to the high school felt the wholeheartedness of American Canyon.