By Kelsey Hammon
kelsey.hammon@leaderpub.com

When the homes of teachers at William B. Travis Elementary flooded during Tropical Storm Harvey, Assistant Principal Dimitra Crowell, of Nederland, came to the rescue.

She braved flooded roads to save Principal Israel Taylor and opened up her home to another staff member who had been stranded during the storm.

But when the waters finally receded and the clouds cleared, Crowell’s act of kindness extended beyond this first act of heroism. In fact, it extended throughout the country.

Crowell has worked for Travis Elementary for 13 years. She has served as assistant principal for three years. She is a mother of two, who lives in Nederland and is originally from Port Arthur.

On Aug. 30, the day after Crowell said Harvey made landfall, she received a message from Principal Taylor.

Taylor said he had been rescued by emergency crews in a helicopter earlier and he was being sheltered at a community center in Orange. With a plan to move evacuees to another city farther away, Taylor asked if he could stay with Crowell. Having no way to get to her, he also asked if she could pick him up.

By this point in the storm, many roadways had flooded, but Crowell was determined and hoped in her car to rescue the stranded principal.

“We made it there,” Crowell said. “But it was kind of a scary ride. The median was totally flooded all the way to Orange.”

With the Taylor safely in Crowell’s dry home, another call came in from a teacher, who had hitched a ride on a dump truck to escape the rising floodwaters. The teacher was able to meet Crowell’s husband who had been out picking up a pizza and both returned to the home safely.

“I was so saddened to see the things that they were going through,” Crowell said. “These are my friends and co-workers. It was devastating for them and to know there wasn’t a whole lot I could do to help.”

Crowell sheltered the principal and teacher for about a week and a half. Crowell’s home in Nederland managed to ride out the storm with no damage. With that, she was encouraged to help others whose fates had ended differently.

Following the storm, faculty made their way to Travis Elementary, at 1115 Lake View Ave. in Port Arthur expecting the worst. Fortunately, the school had not been severely damaged and suffered only minimal water damage.

With school set to start on Sept. 18, Crowell began thinking about all her students who had likely been impacted by the hurricane.
“Most of them had purchased school supplies, but they were in the homes that flooded,” Crowell said. “So there goes all that.”

When she learned that about 50 percent of the students at Travis Elementary suffered loss from the storm, Crowell knew she would need to aim high to get enough help to aid everyone. So, she took to Facebook and Crowell asked communities to help her replace the lost school supplies.

The response she saw astounded her.

Cities across the country joined Crowell in her mission to help students.

A bar in Harahan, Louisiana, called the Kamp Bar raised and donated $3,200 for the cause; a school in Washington also helped as did dozens of others across the country.

“These were people from places I had never even heard of helping us out,” Crowell said.
The next thing she wanted to do was assure that children could replace any school uniforms, which are required, that may have been lost in the storm.

Crowell first reached out to parents, asking who needed help.

“The next day, I was overwhelmed with the amount of assistance that was requested from our families here at Travis,” Crowell said.

About 300 students were in need. Approximately 600 students attend the school.

Crowell posted a document on her social media account bearing only students’ initials, sizes and option to sponsor them. The drive has been ongoing for the past three weeks.

A local reporter from a TV station saw the document and did a story about the project.

“I am not one to want to get on the news, but I wanted to do it for the kids,” Crowell said. “I guess the story was just so touching to everyone that we got an overwhelming response.”

The same school in Washington that donated school supply funds also contributed to the uniform drive and others from all over the country and Jefferson County. Thanks to the response, Crowell said every single child, except five students who were recently added to the spreadsheet, found a sponsor.

“We have been so grateful, people have been amazing,” Crowell said. “It has been a really humbling experience for me. I wanted to help the kids, but I could not have done any of this without our donors. The kids have been so grateful.”

Still others credit Crowell for her initiation and hard work on the project.
Taylor said in addition to rescuing him from a perilous situation, Crowell has been a beacon of hope for many at the school.

“She has done an exceptional job,” Taylor said. “We are really proud to work with her.”
The uniform drive is ongoing. Those interested in helping can contact Crowell at 409-984-4714. They can also view the spreadsheet of students in need by visiting facebook.com/traviselementary. Crowell encouraged residents to call the district’s media specialist Kristyn Cathey to learn of other ways they can help. Cathey can be reached at 409-540-8146.