On May 26, a tornado hit multiple homes and schools in Arkansas, impacting the lives of students and staff from Heritage.
The tornado passed through 13 states, hitting the city of Rogers particularly badly. Heavy rain started passing from 12 am to 1 am, with two tornadoes passing by shortly after. It destroyed many stores and restaurants down Walnut Street as well as damaging homes in many surrounding neighborhoods.
“We had moved 3 weeks before the tornado and our house was hit pretty good. We had multiple trees on our house and our yard, tons of leaks, multiple windows bashed open, no power for over a week, fences destroyed, and trees not in a good spot. Most of my neighbors’ houses were so bad they had to move out for a while,” said Principal Chip Greenwell.
When Greenwell’s house was hit, it affected his whole family. Even though his house had a lot of damage, he still decided to put his own issues aside to continue working to make sure his community was safe and well.
“We had incredible community support and a number of teachers, both at Heritage and around the district, were ultra helpful. People came to the house with chainsaws ready to work, and worked in the heat and the sun. My family and I were just super grateful for all the work that they provided and food and drinks and everything just to make sure that we were okay,” said Greenwell.
This tornado really turned things upside down for a lot of people, but others did not give up and kept on going forward, helping anyone who really needed the help. Rogers High School served as a hub for community donations and volunteers who worked tirelessly in the aftermath to provide for people whose homes had been hit.
“Heritage cares, that really showed itself tremendously during the tornado. I spent two days up here cutting trees and did [work] at faculties houses that didn’t have a saw or they needed help themselves. It was a growing time for our community and we really came together in the time of need. We showed ourselves the true family that we are,” said debate teacher Wayne Levering.
