Pass Christian School District, Mississippi
The Pass Story
Suzanne M. Ishee
Middle School Teacher, Pass Christian, Mississippi
Lead Writer for the Pass Christian Grant 

This story begins in a small town in south Mississippi located along the Gulf of Mexico. “The Pass”, as it affectionately is called, has a rich history of culture, pirates, hidden gold, and a strong people. The strength of the people has carried them through many challenges, the greatest of which is rebuilding an entire community after Hurricane Katrina. An integral part of the recovery has been the Pass Christian School District. This is their story.

It is a story of gain in the midst of loss. Faced with a major natural disaster (Hurricane Katrina) the district was faced with what could have appeared to be an insurmountable task- the task of rebuilding a learning community when virtually all was lost. Students and staff came together with the common thread of what was left to them to continue their pursuit of excellence: Thinking Maps. This common language for learning and metacognition allowed the entire community to rise above circumstance and to heal and prosper in the face of a national disaster. The district had to derive meaning from loss.

By entering the post-Katrina world and surviving and thriving, the Pass Christian School District’s story has become “everyman’s” story. Returning to learning was the one component of normalcy that reflected what was before the storm and helped bridge the gap to the future! The implications for the field of education are enormous. Internationally communities rise and fall by their commitment to educating their citizens. The Pass Christian School District demonstrated that the power to think helped teachers, students, and parents find a way to continue a tradition of excellence and to advance their learning community.

How do you create a “better” survivor? With today’s news headlines documenting the tremendous challenges faced by humanity throughout the world, this is not a trite question. Natural and man-made disasters reflect the need for a system to bring order out of chaos. The Pass Christian School District’s story is all the more poignant because it is “everyman’s” story. Ordinary individuals were able to surmount extraordinarily bad circumstances and found out in the process that their common language for learning became a significant factor in their emotional, physical and spiritual healing. Stripped of their entire physical community, the educational community came together with the sole purpose to survive and thrive.

August 29, 2005, changed the way the entire community looked at the world. In a matter of twelve horrendous hours, people, places, and things disappeared into the Gulf of Mexico, carried away by a storm named Katrina. The staff of the Pass Christian School District, eighty five per cent of whom became homeless themselves, had to wipe away the debris and discover what was left to recreate their learning environment. There were no books. There was no technology. Only one building remained, and even that structure had been damaged from four feet of water that traveled inland from the highest hurricane storm surge ever recorded.

Staff came together to begin rebuilding a district piece by piece. In a world that was out of control it became a matter of necessity to give the students and staff a means of gaining control over the overwhelming task set before them. One of the most critical factors in the district’s survival was the awareness of a common frame of reference-the use of Thinking Maps district-wide. This became the starting point to the realization that although Pass Christian, Mississippi, was wiped off the face of the map, staff and students alike still had their “mental maps”. Instead of dwelling on what was not, individuals and groups could focus on what was.

Thinking Maps had been introduced as a district initiative in 2002. For four years student achievement continued to climb. Prior to Hurricane Katrina this district was a high performing district with some of the top test scores in the state. The demographics of the district before the storm did not fit statistical data of how students should perform. Over sixty per cent of the students were on free or reduced lunch. On writing assessments students scored in the middle ranges before the introduction and implementation of Thinking Maps. Three percent of the seventh grade students scored a   “4”, the highest score on the writing assessment, prior to the Maps. Over thirty percent scored a “4” on the assessment after the maps were implemented. Success was expected and a point of pride among the learning community. The reputation for excellence had spread to all corners of the state and beyond. The high school was a National Blue Ribbon School and the middle school and two elementary schools also commanded great respect for their achievements.In the wake of the devastation from Hurricane Katrina, it would have been easy for the Pass Christian School District to not push for continued success at the level to which they were accustomed. Daily survival was uppermost in everyone’s minds. Finding food and shelter for the homeless, locating missing persons, and identifying the dead became the “new normal”. School and learning could have become mere distractions to the populace. However, the Pass Christian School District became convinced that the loss of the learning community would mean the loss of the entire community. Recovery was only possible if a common thread could be used to connect everyone-students, staff, and parents. That common thread was the language of metacognition. Thinking Maps were there before the storm and they were there after the storm. They provided continuity in the midst of chaos.

For seven weeks, staff worked diligently to prepare a site for the district to return to the business of educating their children. Trailers were brought in to serve as classrooms. Materials were gathered from donations to help students and staff find ways to reclaim some semblance of normalcy.

The Pass Story continues in 2013 with the district receiving the highest A Star rating and has received recognition as Blue Ribbon schools on all levels: elementary, middle and high schools.

The Return
Poem by Pass Christian Teacher Suzanne M. Ishee 

These bricks and mortar rise from
where the tangled rubble lay,
Standing strong, on battered ground,
Hope’s guardians, holding sway.

Proud old oaks still raise their limbs
In a silent victory dance.
It’s faith, it’s hope, and the love of many
that brought us back-not chance!

As you enter into these sacred halls
never forget the past.
Remember true treasure was never lost.
It was forged from things that last.

You will see it in the children’s smiles,
and in their teachers’ care.
Knowledge, challenge, joy, and strength-
You will find these everywhere.

As you look upon these stalwart walls
This message you will learn-
It matters not that we were gone-
What matters is our return!