When the Tornado Destroyed Their School, Cambridge School Students Came Running
The past week and a half, The Cambridge School of Dallas students have been without a school home, but that has not stopped them from reaching out to fellow students and the community.
The religious-based, classical, college preparatory school may have only 107 students, but their small numbers did not dissuade Cambridge students from making a big impact on the community around them.
The Cambridge School of Dallas rents space from Northway Church near Walnut Hill and Midway, is across the street from Thomas Jefferson High School and Edward H. Cary Middle School, all of which were decimated by the tornado.
Some families from The Cambridge School of Dallas lost everything, others have damage, but one thing was certain, if there was home near the school, it was probably hurt in some way by the tornado. Students immediately decided to mobilize. Head prefect, Silas Geiger, texted his senior class to let them know of the needs of different students at the school.
“I was struck by the overwhelming response that was received when I reached out to the senior class,” said Geiger. “They were quick to respond and willing to do any job that was asked of them to do. It just shows how close the Cambridge community is in its like-mindedness to share the love of Christ to any and all those in need.”
In the days after the EF-3 tornado ripped through North Dallas, students appeared at the school’s campus eager to help. Two days after the tornado, two senior students, Matthew Moner and Alex Habib, arrived at the school ready and willing to do whatever was asked of them. Cambridge staff had them help tape up and seal windows in rooms that were damaged.
“Despite the scattered papers and broken glass that covered the floors of rooms, the school is intact, and the books are dry,” said Habib. “Cambridge has preserved the beauty of learning in the midst of a tornado. Classical education: it’s both literal and figurative. Cambridge is a classical education that has preserved the beauty of knowledge despite the secular tornado that has demolished the public school systems.”
Once Moner and Habib were finished with that task, they immediately went to work helping Northway Church volunteers cut and move trees from around the building.
“The Cambridge community has given so much to myself, and many others. It was truly a pleasure to be able to step up and give back, especially in a time of need,” said Moner.
Other students went door to door, asking the owners if they could help clear their yards from debris. One senior, international student Vera Martinovic, who moved to Dallas only in August from Serbia to attend The Cambridge School of Dallas for her senior year, said that her heart hurt when she heard of what had happened to the community. She joined other students going door to door to help the community surrounding Cambridge.
“Cambridge has taught me to serve others selflessly, and putting this into action was captivating,” said Martinovic. “As an international student, seeing how I was welcomed to the Dallas community was heart-warming. After experiencing my first tornado, I was inspired to give back to the community that has become my family.”
