School Fire

Most of you know my friend, Vanessa. She is a second and third-grade bilingual teacher at Trace Elementary in San Jose. On Monday morning, her school burned down. Sixteen classrooms, the school library, and the computer learning center (which had at least 30 laptops/computers in it), were destroyed. Vanessa's classroom was one of those destroyed. She lost all the books, DVDs, the skillet and popcorn popper she had brought in for class parties and science projects, BYU memorabilia, study abroad photos, maps, and other odds and ends. The school has insurance, but not all of the personal items are covered, if any. So Vanessa and the other teachers will have to re-build their classrooms, one book at a time. There are so many things each teacher needs, but as Vanessa is near and dear to my heart, I'm mostly worried about her. So, if anyone feels that they can or have the ability to donate books, educationally appropriate DVDs (such as Planet Earth and Blue Planet), or gift cards to Target or Amazon, that would be much appreciated. I am willing to collect items and deliver them to Vanessa, but if you know where she lives, you can also send stuff directly to her, or to her husband's work place. That address is:

Robb Thurmond

Trace Elementary School

46269 Warm Springs Blvd.

Fremont, CA 94539

I've seen how stressful the beginning of school is for Vanessa, and I'm sure it is the same for all teachers. This only makes it more stressful for her, and the other teachers and students affected by the school fire. So anything that can be done to help rebuild the classroom would be much appreciated. And it is tax-deductible!