Though Elmore Stoutt High School students and teachers have resumed classes in their new building in Pasea, the state of their old campus is a constant reminder of Hurricane Irma.
Classroom roofs remain caved in, piles of debris clog the grounds and some walls have been reduced to rubble.
Keith “88” Malone, a former basketball star and a BVI High school alumnus, coordinated a cleanup at the school’s former campus on Nov. 11. Mr. Malone got friends with heavy machinery, including excavators and trucks, to donate their time and start clearing debris.
“As we started to clean up the island and I saw the devastation, I noticed that every time you see the high school it seemed like nothing was moving,” Mr. Malone said. “It just dawned on me that it was the thing to do to get alumni of the BVI High School, the Elmore Stoutt, to give back to the institution that was so good to us.”
Mr. Malone said those with machinery were working on the grounds from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. – all free of charge.
‘Did it together’
One of those workers was Floyd Stoutt, who runs ENS Excavation Limited, though he was adamant that the whole group “did it together.”
“I live right across from the school in Long Bush. I’ve lived here for 32 years or more and I’ve never seen it like this in my life, so I knew the school would need some kind of help sooner or later,” he said. “I met with [Education and Culture Minister Myron] Walwyn, and told him when it comes to the school you don’t have to pay me to do anything. So I said, ‘When you’re ready, let me know and I’ll send what I have available to help you guys out.’”
This Saturday, the group of alumni and volunteers are getting together again for another round at the old campus — and asking current students to help out, too.
For Mr. Malone, the impetus for getting a cleanup crew together was personal, as he assumes it is for other former and current students.
“My heart bleeds every time I pass by the school and see the devastation,” he said. “So you can do one of two things: cry about it or do something about it.”
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