Flooded school needs your vote for new library

WAVERLY – A middle school damaged in the flood of 2008 is asking for votes in an online voting content sponsored by Acer and Intel “Win a school library makeover contest.

You can cast your vote for Washing Irving Elementary School in Waverly by going here.

The proposal

During the summer of 2008, Washington Irving Elementary School in Waverly, Iowa, was devastated by a flood that left an inch of muck and mud throughout the media center and the entire first floor of the building.

We were not able to rescue any of the materials on the lower shelves of the media center before the flood, and all the shelving, chairs, tables, computer towers, printers, anything that was on the floor was a loss.

The school had 59 days to find an adequate space for a temporary 5th-6th facility, remodel that facility into classroom space, and move any undamaged items to the new location. We were fortunate to find some warehouse space in a strip mall that was available, and because of local carpenters, electricians, and painters, we were able to start school on time.

Our media center currently is combined with the school's computer lab. Most machines from the lab were on tables in the former facility, so they were brought to the temporary facility. We created bookshelves by taking the cupboards off the walls of the former school, stacking them on top of each other and covering the whole unit with facing and trim boards.

We are using donated tables and chairs in our temporary space, and the media director and associate have done a marvelous job at making our current media center be an inviting place where students read, research, and relax with a good book.

Parents, donors, and concerned citizens have done a nice job of stepping up to the plate and giving us some donations to help replenish the lost instructional materials, yet we still aren't back to "pre-flood stage" in our media center. District funds are limited and FEMA replacement vouchers are slow in coming.

Winning the library makeover would go a long way towards helping us meet the growing technology needs in our building. Our community did recently pass a bond issue, and we will be in a new facility in August, 2011, but in the mean time, we will be staying in our warehouse school.