Sacred Heart School slowly recovering

April Garza (left) and her husband Joe Garza (wearing "WeAreRockportStrong" t-shirt) and Laura Peterek (right), catch up after a recent Town Hall Meeting about the re-opening of Sacred Heart School. The families had not seen each other since before Hurricane Harvey.

Rebecca Esparza  for South Texas Catholic
 

Sacred Heart School has been closed since the hurricane and officials with the school and the Diocese of Corpus Christi recently hosted a town hall meeting to discuss plans for opening the school.

“We have had extensive damage to all buildings in our parish, but reopening the school as soon as possible is our number one priority,” Father Ray Yrlas, Jr., pastor at Sacred Heart said. “The goal is to open the school by Jan. 4, 2018.”

Peterek and her children attended the meeting. It was an emotional evening for many; since it was the first time the school children saw their teachers and fellow classmates since before the devastating hurricane.

“I was hopeful after the meeting, but also a little frustrated we won’t be back in our home school until January,” Peterek said. “However, I understand with all of the damage the school suffered, we will need prayer and patience to get through this. Seeing everyone felt like attending a family reunion!”

Her children are attending Ss. Cyril and Methodius School in Corpus Christi until Sacred Heart School reopens. The adjustment has been difficult, but the school staff, parents and students have been extremely welcoming. Understandably, she and her family just want life to get back to normal.

Madison Peterek, 4th grader at Sacred Heart School in Rockport, reviews some paperwork with her teacher, Rosemary Zamorano during a recent Town Hall Meeting about the status of the school re-opening, which is now scheduled for January 4, 2018. Rebecca Esparza  for South Texas Catholic

“My family lived in Kingsville with granny and grandpa for two weeks, while I lived and worked here in Rockport,” said Peterek, who works as a Game Warden with Aransas County. “When they were able to move back to Rockport, we lived in a camper in our yard until we could move back in our house.  My children have stayed in three different places since the hurricane and a few weeks ago my 7-year-old son asked me while eating dinner at our table, ‘Mom, do we live here now?’”

Meanwhile, Peterek said her faith has gotten stronger since the hurricane. 

“I see God everywhere, everyday here in Rockport.  We are his hands and feet!  He has allowed me to serve my brothers and sisters cleaning out homes and brush.  I see so many people offering help, food, gift cards, money, emotional support, prayers and so much more every time I look around,” Peterek said.

Father Yrlas said the school has received $70,000 in donations via the school’s website, with more donations coming everyday, from all over the world. 

“Please remember, you have people all over the world keeping you in their prayers. Thanks to a fundraising drive with the National Catholic Educational Association, a school in Alaska held a taco sale that raised $1,000 for us,” he said.

April and Joe Garza’s two children have been attending Sacred Heart School since they were both three-years-old. When Hurricane Harvey forced the family to evacuate, they headed to West, Texas, just outside of Waco in the Diocese of Austin. While attending church in West, a parishioner invited the children to attend their Catholic school while they were away from home.

“The community of West is absolutely wonderful, genuine and will go out of their way to help you in any way possible,” April Garza said. “Our children attended St. Mary's Catholic School for about a week, and were taken care of beyond measure.”

Today, the family is trying to pick up the pieces from the trauma of the hurricane. They are living with relatives in Corpus Christi while the children attend St. Patrick School.  Unfortunately, the Garza’s daughter is having a difficult time adjusting.

“She's showing visible signs of post-traumatic stress disorder at just eight-years-old. I was very emotional because I didn't really think it could affect my sweet girl the way it has. All she talks about is how sad this nightmare has caused her to be,” Garza said. “I pray God wraps her in his loving arms and stands by her side during this process until we can get back to Sacred Heart School and our sweet Rockport.”

Even once the school is open, the transition back to life before the hurricane will be a slow one. The Garzas’ home was badly damaged and will need a new ceiling, sheetrock and insulation. Most of their furniture was destroyed due to water that entered the house. But, Garza is resolute her family will make the best of it.

“We have been dealing with things day-by-day. The one thing that breaks me in all ways thinkable is the problem our daughter is being faced with. It's heartbreaking that all she can think about, daydream about and talk about is how different her life is after this hurricane. She is fearful it can happen again. She asks questions that sometimes we don't have the answers to. The only thing I can tell her is we are a family that has stuck through this hurricane and nothing can break us,” she said.

Sean Janosky has a son who attends Sacred Heart School. They both evacuated to San Antonio and while there, his son attended Our Lady of Perpetual Help for two weeks.

“They were amazing,” Janosky said. “They supplied his school clothes, school supplies and anything else he needed. We’ve been back in Rockport since early October. Since then, I have stalled on enrolling my son anywhere so that I could hear what was going to happen at Sacred Heart. Now that I know how long it will be, I will look into Catholic schools in Corpus Christi.”

An idea parents at the town hall meeting brought up was the idea of extending Sacred Heart School into the middle school grades. Several parents noted since a new building would probably need to be built anyway, adding several classrooms for middle school students should not be problematic.

Father Yrlas said it was something the school officials would give serious consideration, although having available space is not the only issue.

“To continue with 6-8 grades, we also have to consider extracurricular activities that parents desire for their children, that at present time we do not offer: i.e. sports, band, cheerleading and the like,” he said.

“I think a lot of the parents’ voices were finally heard and I hope that they consider it closely. We love our school and want our kids to stay there as long as possible,” Janosky said.

Rebuilding will not happen overnight for Janosky. His parents’ home was completely destroyed and he is awaiting confirmation that his own house will also be officially condemned. Despite the fact Janosky evacuated, his father decided to ride out the storm and it almost cost him his life.

“The house fell down around him. He had to swim across the street in three feet of water to get to a neighbors house in the middle of the eye of the storm. He got two broken ribs, a punctured lung, air on his heart and air on his lung. He’s healing, but still won’t slow down,” he said.

Janosky, a Rockport-based small business owner specializing in providing technical services, asks for everyone’s continued prayers for the entire area. It will be a long time before the area regains any true sense of normalcy.

“It’s been very difficult. We have two homes destroyed and lost almost all of our possessions, including mementos and photo albums. But we have persevered,” he said. “My son has actually been the strongest, I think, of everyone. He has treated this like an adventure. And we have had many during this time. 

“I can’t say that it has affected my faith in a positive or negative way. I still love God and God still loves me. This wasn’t a judgment. This was a natural disaster that is part of life,” Janosky said.