It was early in the morning on April 4 when Norphlet High School Athletic Director Dennis Steele discovered an unwelcome visitor wreaking havoc in the NHS library – a devastating fire that ended up causing extensive fire, smoke and water damage in the high school building.
The blaze caused major damage in the school’s library, destroying all the books there, and also spilled out of the library and into an adjacent hallway where it caused still more fire, smoke and water damage and destroyed some of the class pictures from years past that had been displayed there.
“There is considerable loss of memories,” said Assisistant Superintendent John Gross the day after the fire.
But according to Norphlet High School Principal Keith Coleman, those memories are being replaced by some new ones … memories of the goodness of people who have given generously of their time, muscle and resources to help the school bounce back, and bounce back quickly.
“People have just been so helpful,” said Coleman on Friday. “Because of them, things have been running smoothly and we have hardly missed a beat. We may have stubbed our toe a time or two, but it didn’t bleed, and that’s because of the help of many people who I want to thank publicly.”
First on Coleman’s list was Smackover School Board Superintendent Dave Wilcox, who Coleman said has been on hand personally every day since the fire. “He’s been very hands-on and constantly looking for ways to help.
“Jennifer Lee, our curriculum director, has run all over creation for headsets for our district learning lab,” said Coleman, “and Teri Philyaw, in special projects, has brought her personal books from home and donated them to our library. Likewise, Robin Travis and Lori Willis, our business managers, have placed a priority on getting us the things we need and really pushed through to get things quickly.
“Jana Reynolds, our director of technology for the district, worked unbelieveable hours to get us up back up and running, and Henry Epps in maintenance has also been here working long hours,” Coleman continued. “Jan Henderson, the Smackover High School principal, and Holly Strickland, the elementary principal at Smackover, have both come to me personally to offer help, as have people from the Strong-Huttig and El Dorado School Districts. People have donated money anonymously, and Barton Library has also donated books to our library."
School was back in session two days after the fire, and according to Coleman, the week has been “unbelieveably smooth.”
“This merger between Norphlet and Smackover is going to be a great thing,” Coleman said. “School district administrators, teachers and others have committed to making it a nice school district, everyone works together so well, and I know it’s going to a great school district.
“Already it feels like home.”