Although the devastating impacts of Hurricane Irma and Maria are thousands of miles
away, the recovery process has started here at West Morris Central High School. One of the
places hardest hit and need of help in their recovery is the island of St John’s, the smallest and
most remote of the U.S. virgin islands. St Johns was hit by hurricane Irma as a category 5 storm
with winds reaching 185 mph and causing complete and absolute devastation to the island. The
islands main area is nearly inhabitable, and power is not supposed to be available again for
months not to mention food, water, and gasoline has been slow to arrive. To make matters worse,
hurricane Maria hit the island as a
category 3 storm, only a week and
a half later, probing half of its
4,500 residents to leave the island.

But for those who stayed, they lost
almost if not everything. Aerial
Photos courtesy of FEMA have
shown complete neighborhoods
and towns completely gone. The
damage is unimaginable. Courtesy of @FEMA
As means to help, the International Baccalaureate Personal and Personal Skills and
Theory of Knowledge classes of Mrs. Gonzalez have teamed up with the “Adopt-A-Family”
organization and have both adopted families to send lifesaving materials and goods to them.

Both classes will be supporting families of three as they start the very long recovery process that
is to come. The requested materials are basic everyday products and goods that we take for
granted and are unaware of just how important they are to us, and these people thought the same
until they no longer had access to them. Such goods include soap, shampoo, towels, sunscreen,
blankets, and shirts to just name a few, so many of these we just have lying around our homes in
abundance.
It is crazy to think how easily we can change the lives of people who are struggling when
with a simple toothbrush. Therefore, West Morris Central has been propositioned to help as
much as they can. Are you interested in adopting a family ? Or do you have any extra hygiene or
food laying around your house you want to donate ? Please contact Mrs. Gonzalez or visit her in
the IB room (In the Cafeteria) if you want to join Centrals Mission of helping others ! Together
we can make a difference !