Using Social Media Tools in Crisis Aftermath

SOCIAL MEDIA

When a tornado blew through one of our school district’s elementary schools in south-central Kansas last year, we didn’t expect the destruction it left behind would ultimately lead to heartwarming stories of a school community banding together.

The EF-3 tornado, which struck the evening of Friday, April 29, 2022, wasn’t strong enough to level Prairie Creek Elementary, but it broke windows and gutted classrooms with wind and water damage. It was clear students would not be returning to the building for their final three weeks of the school year.

That Monday, leaders gathered the Prairie Creek staff together for a week of planning before students would finish the school year in alternate locations, with a focus on the social-emotional well-being of a school community that had experienced trauma.