Teachers pick up the pieces at the Kindergarten Center

One was hard pressed to find a dry eye in the Poplar Bluff Kindergarten Center on Tuesday afternoon, as teachers and staff cleared out classrooms they spent countless hours decorating, often on their own dime.

“It’s completely devastating,” teacher Kelen Deffendall said as she packed away what could be salvaged.

The roof above her room was completely gone. The only thing separating the space from the outside elements was a battered vapor barrier.

“We put so much time and effort and love into every classroom,” Deffendall remarked.

She recalled hearing the news about the school’s condition, and her primary concern was for the children.

“My first thought was that I’m glad we didn’t have kids here,” she stated.

Lindzey Smith, a kindergarten teaching assistant, added, “I feel like I have the biggest hole in my heart for my students. It’s felt like losing somebody.”

Faculty gathered belongings in large totes donated by Bluff First Assembly of God, PB Realty, and Bluff Church. Meanwhile, maintenance workers cleared debris and distributed masks, due to the volume of insulation fibers in the space. Kindergarten Principal Christy Young said the damage to the school has been difficult for all those involved.

“We’re in the packing phase right now,” she affirmed. “It’s tough. It’s devastating.”

Young reiterated how thankful she was none of the students were in the building when the twister struck and emphasized how hard the administration is working to keep all the kids and faculty together in a new location.

“They’re so little,” Young said of the students. “They don’t quite understand.”

Occupational therapy assistant Bailey Beard echoed the sentiment of the other teachers.

“It’s so sad,” she commented while sorting through what could be saved. Her classroom was adjacent to Deffendall’s and suffered a similar level of damage.

Insulation fibers fell continuously from the steel rafters while the wind shifted the plastic sheeting like a luffing sail. Beard recalled spending hours decorating the classroom and creating activity stations.

“A lot of it is just ruined,” she said.

Beard praised the efforts of the administration, and has her heart set on reunifying with her students.

“We do feel very supported by our administration,” she noted. “The biggest thing is to be able to see our students. I was worried I wasn’t going to be able to see them.”

Kindergarten teacher Pam Smith expressed how emotionally taxing the experience has been.

“I’ve just been really anxious,” she stated.

Smith shared the school served as a home away from home for both her and her students.

“The (students) are all sad. They miss me and I miss them,” she expressed.

Britney Croy cleaned up what could be salvaged from her very first classroom in her first year of teaching. “This was a home to a lot of students,” she lamented. “It hurts because you put so much effort into making it your own. A lot of students don’t have a safe home.”

Croy relayed comments from her kindergarten students. “They’re just so heartbroken.”

As of press time, the Poplar Bluff School District has not set a firm date for resuming classes for the kindergarten. School is cancelled through the end of the week.