After being destroyed by the devastating California wildfires, an L.A.-area school is coming up with creative ways to keep its students engaged.
Shawn Brown founded Pasadena Rosebud Rosebud Academy Charter School in Altadena in 2007 to give back to the community where she grew up, offering students opportunities to learn critical thinking and financial literacy.
As Brown, the school’s executive director, deals with the loss of her own home, she makes time to help students continue learning in the midst of tragedy.
“I have not had any moment to think about anything,” Brown was saying. “I had to go from hearing that the house and the school burned down, to figuring out, ‘What am I going to do with these kids next?'”
Searching for a new building after the wildfires
After the Eaton Fire, which killed 17 people, destroyed the school, Brown and her staff quickly came up with a plan.
“So the first week after all of this, we scheduled field trips,” she said. “One of our pillars is exposure and experience, and so we really like to get our students out of the community. And we know that travel is a huge part of thinking bigger and dreaming bigger.”
One of the places they visited was the California Science Center.
But after the field trips, Brown’s students still needed classrooms.
“I don’t think they (students) understand the gravity of it. They know their school burned down, but I think that a bigger part of that is that they know that we still have each other,” Brown said.
After a long search, her team found a temporary solution. On Monday, the students met up to get bused to their new school.
When the students arrived at The Beehive in South Los Angeles, they were excited.
“It’s a high-tech place, and they serve Black and Brown students. It’s in L.A. and they really bring kids in to help them learn more about the tech field and encourage them that they can get in those fields as well.” Brown said. “They worked around the clock that weekend to outfit each of their studios into classrooms for our students.
Staff at The Beehive went out and got desks, chairs and other supplies for the youngest students, but the solution is only short-term. In two weeks, they’ll need a new place to continue learning.
Student impact
Some students and their families lost their own homes in addition to their school.
“I think that she thinks that we’re on vacation, which is, I kind of like it that way because emotionally it’s been very hard,” said Amber Trejo, whose 5-year-old daughter Caira is a kindergartener at Rosebud Academy.
Trejo’s childhood home where she lived with her grandmother, parents, brother and children burned down.
“We had everything in that home. My whole childhood was in that home, but we will rebuild and we’ll make it stronger,” Trejo said.
She said still being able to keep her daughter in school gives them both a sense of normalcy.
“It makes me happy. It makes me happy for her.”
Life outside the classroom
Brown is still dealing with the loss of her home, as well as the home she grew up in, where her mother Gloria still lives.
Brown’s mother had lived in her home for over 50 years. She finally returned to see what remained after the wildfire destroyed her community. She stated that she intends to rebuild her home, while Brown plans to construct a new Rosebud Academy.
“We would really need funding to rebuild, and that has been the ultimate goal for the school even when I started it,” Brown told the crowd. “The long-term goal is to build something amazing for our students.”
