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Maunabo, Puerto Rico

The eye of Hurricane Maria swept over southeast Puerto Rico on the morning of Sept. 20, 2017, just north of Escuela Alfonso Casta Mart铆nez. Nearly a year after the storm caused great physical damage and emotional turmoil across the island, the high school in Maunabo, some 90 minutes south of San Juan, has reopened for the new school year. Yet fundamental challenges remain to keeping students enrolled and their minds in a good place to learn.

At the center of that effort is Kiomary Rodr铆guez Garc铆a, the school鈥檚 social worker. At the start of this year, members of the staff painted parts of the building, and the school welcomed students with candy in an effort to create a positive atmosphere. But Garc铆a knows many students have struggled emotionally after losing their homes鈥攅ven being apart from their families while they attend school during the day has been difficult.

The school has lost more than half its enrollment over the past nine years, and now educates just 321 students. Garc铆a worries that the exodus will continue as students leave for more attractive career and technical education programs at other nearby schools.

鈥淲e need new courses or classes that can help retain the students,鈥� said Garc铆a, who graduated from the school and has worked there for 22 years. 鈥淲e need to offer them other opportunities so they can achieve their goals and learn the things they like.鈥�

Her students, she added, have a 鈥済lobal mindset.鈥� But it鈥檚 the students鈥� state of mind that has the island鈥檚 education leaders very concerned.

Last spring, Puerto Rico鈥檚 Department of Education began a survey to gather information about the mental health and psychological needs of both students and educators. However, as of late August, the department had not shared the results of that island-wide survey publicly.

The fallout from Hurricane Maria has created major and continued disruptions to the island鈥檚 education system and its students. The education department closed more than 260 public schools over the summer due to declining enrollment triggered in part by the storm, leading many students to be reassigned to new schools. Repairs continue at storm-damaged schools. And at the start of the school year, it was uncertain how many students were actually enrolled, although department estimates put the figure at roughly 300,000.

We interviewed several students at Escuela Alfonso Casta Mart铆nez about their lives, their hopes and concerns as they headed back to school, and their thoughts about the future nearly one year after Hurricane Maria.

Tjeyder Manuel D铆az V茅lez

Tjeyder Manuel D铆az V茅lez feels such a strong connection to his school that he has written a poem to welcome incoming freshmen, urging them: 鈥淒on鈥檛 leave for tomorrow what you can do today.鈥� After school, Tjeyder doesn鈥檛 just sit at home: He slings fried chicken and plantains at his family restaurant, Trigo Alrdiente. And he recalls how his mother and stepfather handed out bread to help other families in Maunabo immediately after Hurricane Maria.

But Tjeyder鈥檚 affection for his school, his family, and his community aren鈥檛 enough to keep him in Puerto Rico.

鈥淚鈥檓 thankful for my life. But I want to be in the United States鈥� on the mainland, he says during a break at Trigo Alrdiente, which overlooks Maunabo鈥檚 main drag and, just a block beyond that, the Caribbean Sea. His sister walks up and down the restaurant patio engrossed in an intricate phone conversation. Laughter swells and fades from the bar, where veteran patrons treat Tjeyder like a favorite nephew. As he displays photos of his family鈥檚 steak and lobster dishes on his own phone, his voice rises and swells with pride.

He likes the U.S. mainland鈥檚 cultural diversity鈥攈e鈥檚 been to California and Texas鈥攁nd the chance he鈥檇 get to earn a better living than in Maunabo.

Being back at school is a strange experience, he says. One of the things he misses most are the several trees knocked down by Maria. Without them, it鈥檚 tough for students to find shade at the school where air conditioning doesn鈥檛 reach the classrooms and the outdoor basketball court鈥檚 roof is a shredded safety hazard.

One thing there鈥檚 more of this year: time in school. Classes were cut to just 30 minutes apiece once the year resumed after Maria.

鈥淚t was difficult. They helped us, they never gave up on us,鈥� he says of his teachers. 鈥淣ow I have more time to study. Now I have more time to do the classwork.鈥�

Not all of his memories about the time after Maria disturb him. In fact, he says, without cell phone service or power, he went outside on his bike instead of playing video games indoors. He reconnected with his neighborhood in a new way. Tjeyder misses it.

鈥淓very day, I was playing outside with people I never knew [before],鈥� Tjeyder recalls. 鈥淭hey were my neighbors.鈥�

Ricardo E. Rosario Vega

A teacher didn鈥檛 come to Alfonso Casta Mart铆nez on the second day of school this year, and there鈥檚 no substitute, leaving students like Ricardo E. Rosario Vega at loose ends. At least one student vaults the school fence to leave the school without permission, and there鈥檚 no outcry from the school security guard.

It鈥檚 easy to draw a line between Ricardo鈥檚 frustration about the official response to the storm, his determination to make it through his time without running water and power, and the attitude the 11th grader has towards school. He鈥檚 not dwelling on the shortened 2017-18 school year, when Alfonso Casta Martinez only held classes from 8 a.m. to noon even after it was closed for several weeks.

鈥淚 feel like, certainly, a little bit behind,鈥� Ricardo says, as students lounge and tap on their phones in a neighboring stone pavilion.

Two days after Ricardo turned 15, Hurricane Maria struck Maunabo. As the storm raged, the man who lived next to his grandmother died of a heart attack. He recalls how sad he was to see that man鈥檚 home being repaired even after he had died.

But he also remembers a night about a week after the storm when his cousins came to his house with flashlights. They played cards and board games. And they talked for a long time about all kinds of things, from the stars to the government鈥檚 response to Maria, which he says left him feeling 鈥減issed.鈥�

It took workers a week to clear the road around his house, the back of which was damaged. He washed his clothes in a nearby river for some time. He shrugs it off.

鈥淭hose are only material possessions. We still have our lives. We have to go forward,鈥� says Ricardo.

鈥淚f we, as students, work hard, and try to get back to where we were, there won鈥檛 be problems,鈥� Ricardo adds.

College is part of Ricardo鈥檚 plan, and he鈥檚 open to moving to the U.S. mainland at some point. But ideally, he鈥檇 like to stay in Puerto Rico. He鈥檚 interested in becoming an aerospace engineer.

鈥淚 think I like creating and fixing stuff,鈥� Ricardo says.

Yamaris Amaro Brito

It鈥檚 never easy to switch schools, especially in the middle of the year. But when Yamaris Amaro Brito showed up to Alfonso Casta Mart铆nez as a 10th grader late last year nervous and shy, she had good reasons.

A month into the 2017-18 school year in nearby Humacao, Hurricane Maria knocked down her family鈥檚 house. When she saw her clothes scattered about and the kitchen wrecked, she started to cry. Her mother had Yamaris and her 10 brothers to provide for. The lines of people waiting for food and water, people without power, stick with her. So do fonder memories even amidst the chaos.

With her phone out of commission, Yamaris says, 鈥淗urricane Maria made me talk to my mother, [my] brothers. It was good, but difficult at the same time.鈥�

They moved in with Yamaris鈥� grandmother in Maunabo, and several weeks later, Yamaris, now 16, was able to start school at Alfonso Casta Mart铆nez. Her early shyness has faded in the promise of a new school year.

鈥淣ow I can see my friends,鈥� Yamaris says.

She, her mother, and six other siblings have moved again into their own home. Late one afternoon after school, her younger brothers and sisters sprawl on the floor and at the small kitchen table, intent on their coloring. A fan blows cool air down on a brightly lit fish tank in the small living room. There鈥檚 no air conditioning. A dive into her family鈥檚 broken outdoor pool would lead to all concrete and no water.

A newspaper in Yamaris鈥� house touts historic gains in retail sales in Puerto Rico, thanks to business at hardware stores and supermarkets. Greater access to government nutrition benefits and additional hurricane recovery payments are also cited. But signs of the storm鈥檚 wrath are still visible everywhere. Around the corner from Yamaris鈥� house, a blue tarp is stretched tautly across a neighbor鈥檚 roofless house, and a top-floor window is still missing glass.

When Yamaris wants food, she often walks a few minutes to her classmate Tjeyder鈥檚 restaurant. Thinking about her future, her mind goes to two older brothers who live in Boston. She wants to attend college there in preparation for a medical career.

鈥淚 want to have a better life there,鈥� she says of Boston. 鈥淚 like Puerto Rico. This is my place. But I want to study there.鈥�

Tania M. Arroyo

The ruptured and unnaturally fast pace of the last school year unsettled Tania M. Arroyo. Even when classes resumed, Alfonso Casta Mart铆nez鈥檚 half days made learning difficult.

鈥淵ou had to do all the work really [fast]. It was really difficult for us,鈥� says Tania, who鈥檚 17 and in the 12th grade. 鈥淵ou had to learn real quick.鈥�

She鈥檚 nervous about what her senior year will bring. Tania鈥檚 family didn鈥檛 lose their home, but many of her friends and neighbors did, and they scattered.

鈥淭hey have part of your heart. It was hard losing them,鈥� she recalls. 鈥淪ome of them came back to Puerto Rico. But some of them stayed over there [on the U.S. mainland].鈥�

Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory and not an independent nation. But that鈥檚 not how Tania thinks about it. She wants to study medicine at the University of Puerto Rico in Humacao, a short drive north from Maunabo, and then come back to her community to work.

鈥淚 would love to be a doctor here, with my family and friends,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 would love that, because this is my country.鈥�

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