High school in Tennessee resumes a month ago after Helene floods

That first day of school feeling filled the air at Keenburg Elementary School on a cool but sunny fall day. Excited students spoke after weeks of not seeing each other, and everyone gathered in the gym for a welcome meeting.

But Oct. 29 was not a normal first day of school at Keenburg Elementary, which had not seen any students since it closed in 2023. The building, with small doorways and cramped hallways, now serves Hampton High School students after their school was destroyed. due to flooding from Hurricane Helene.

Freshman Justin Crowley ran through the gym to greet his best friend on their “second first day of school.” Crowley knew Ozzy Moore was doing well, but they had not seen each other and had difficulty communicating as Carter County worked to rebuild even essential utilities.

“My internet was completely out for three weeks,” Crowley said, looking to Moore for confirmation on the timing. ‘I haven’t seen him in a minute. I was having a hard time.’

Students and teachers at Hampton High School were last together at their home, about eight miles away, on September 26. The school in northeastern Tennessee was torn apart during the deadly storm.

The school is located along the Doe River, which floodedcarrying rubble to the school grounds. The football field and some buildings were destroyed. Administrators prepared the former elementary school so high school students would have a place to learn — even if taller students had to stoop a bit when entering some rooms.

A different kind of homecoming

Hampton High School’s homecoming football game was scheduled to take place the night of the flooding. Helene canceled those plans and ensured the Bulldogs would not play on their field for the rest of the season.

In lieu of homecoming weekend festivities, they came together to deliver food and water to their neighbors.

“(Our engineering and design teacher) has students with him every day in the community cleaning out basements and removing refrigerators that have been vandalized,” counselor Allison Glover told Knox News. “We’ve had kids delivering meals with their mud boots on, right in the middle of the hustle and bustle.”

While they’re excited to be back together, they currently have more questions than answers about what the future holds. The most frequently asked question is when they can go to their own school again instead of to a school with outdoor play equipment.

“We’re trying to let them know that we’re trying to get back to high school, we’re trying to make things as normal as possible,” student support coordinator Tyler Malone said. ‘It’s a work in progress. We don’t know everything either.’

Malone feels at home at Keenburg. He attended elementary school there and later taught there before transitioning to his role at Hampton.

The former elementary school became an administrative building for Clark County Schools in 2023. Ahead of the return to classes this week, district officials moved and faculty decorated the building with blue and white “Go Bulldogs” signs and the Hampton logo. Hand-drawn signs around the building reminded students how strong and important they are.

“We have kids who have lost everything,” Glover said, reflecting on how her role shifted from helping with college applications to providing emotional support. “High school students, it’s kind of hard sometimes to break down their walls. But I feel like this has really forced them to be a lot more open than normal.”

A month after the scheduled home game against Eagleton College and Career Academy, Hampton students and fans gathered at East Tennessee State University last weekend for a unique makeup game: the Clash of Compassion.

Happy Valley High School also faced Unaka High School, and the Hampton homecoming court was finally crowned at halftime.

“I thought it was great that all the schools were there; it was great for the community,” said fullback Jayden Kuhn, a junior sports varsity letters. “(Not playing on our field) was really weird, but Hampton travels well.”

“At least we’re together.”

Heather Creed, a teacher’s assistant in Hampton, felt relieved as she watched students greet each other in the gym on Oct. 29. She now knows that all students have been counted, but that was not always the case.

Creed was a Hampton High student in 1988 when he… flooding killed seven people in Carter Countyincluding one of her classmates.

“I didn’t know until we went back to school,” she remembers. “All those feelings came flooding back. Even though the recent damage was devastating to the school, it was a blessing to know everyone was safe.”

Current students learned about the 1988 flood growing up and were in school when COVID-19 suddenly shut everything down in 2020. Senior Alexis Nunley feared this closure would last just as long.

“I thought I wouldn’t be able to finish my senior year with my friends,” Nunley said. “Even though this is a different school and it is an elementary school, at least we are together.”

Back to basics

It will take some getting used to for Keenburg. Students tower over the backless cafeteria stools, and they are unaccustomed to single-person bathrooms in some classrooms.

During a tour of her new school, senior Leigh Lipscomb couldn’t hide her shock.

“Now be real,” Lipscomb joked to a friend when he saw the cafeteria. She reiterated that she was grateful to be back, but saw the humor in it. ‘Our other lunchroom was a lot bigger. We’re in a primary school.’

Malone said staffers quickly converted the administrative building into a high school after officials drew up their plan. First, they had to move the donated goods to neighboring churches. Then it was time to order the right size desks and chairs.

“One good thing is that the rooms were mostly empty,” he said. “A clean slate, we just go in and set it up. When the teachers come, they put their own little touches on it.”

It’s still a work in progress. Computers and printers are coming.

“We’re moving in that direction. That’s going to be a slow process of figuring out how things work,” Malone said.

Part of that process is allowing students to enjoy their reunion and begin to heal. The students cheered when principal Kayla Clawson announced that the first class had been canceled and replaced with a free breakfast and dance party.

“We’re trying to get them into the classrooms, but we’re going to have to give everyone a little bit of grace,” Malone said.

Allie Feinberg covers politics for Knox News. Email her: [email protected] and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @alliefeinberg