Riverview Elementary copes with evacuation

Principal Joann Collings stayed awake all night.

A massive ammonia pipeline leak had forced about a dozen Riverview residents to take shelter at her school, Riverview Elementary. Collings knew that by morning the school itself might not be safe.

So she stayed up, talking and planning with the school district's area director, Sherrie Sikes.

At 2:35 a.m., the district decided to close the school.

At 3 a.m., Collings called Spoto High School Principal Clyde Trathowen.

He was instantly alert. "I was a Marine," Trathowen said. "Marines know how to get up."

Together, the two principals launched their plan: Riverview students could stay home from school if they chose. But for parents who couldn't take care of their children during the day, Spoto would offer a safe haven.

This morning, about 47 Riverview children arrived at Spoto, ate a hot breakfast, and trooped into the high school's gym. They learned to pledge to the flag in Signed English. They learned how to make origami frogs. They sang songs.

The day went smoothly, said Collings, even though she had never dealt with an emergency like this one.
"Every day is eventful, but not like this," she said.

Karen Gibson, a third-grade teacher at Riverview, showed up at Spoto with her 9-year-ld daughter Jordyn. She put Jordyn to work helping the littlest kids feel okay in the new environment.

The day turned out to be fun, Jordyn said. When she sees her friends who stayed home, "I'm going to tell them they missed out being at the high school for a day," she said gleefully.

Meanwhile, Collings is wondering whether it will be safe to re-open her school tomorrow.

-- S.I. Rosenbaum, Times staff writer