Gilroy
–
”
Dear community, Thank you everyone. You are heroes. You helped
us be better people. I live in a great community. God bless
you.
”
This is just a sample of the many thank you notes retired
teacher Barbara Gailey received after helping to raise more than
$10,000 in donations after a March 29 blaze destroyed a wing at
Glen View Elementary School containing four classrooms.
Gilroy – “Dear community, Thank you everyone. You are heroes. You helped us be better people. I live in a great community. God bless you.”
This is just a sample of the many thank you notes retired teacher Barbara Gailey received after helping to raise more than $10,000 in donations after a March 29 blaze destroyed a wing at Glen View Elementary School containing four classrooms.
The fire caused $1.5 million in estimated damages and is believed to have been ignited by an 11–year-old Gilroy girl.
The wing will be scrapped and rebuilt once school ends, said Charlie Van Meter, Gilroy Unified School District’s former director of facilities planning and construction. Currently, an architect is designing the new structure, which will be upgraded to meet ADA standards.
“We’re going to make every effort to get it finished before school starts,” Van Meter said. “But if it isn’t it will be done shortly after.”
The 100 students who lost their classrooms are being housed on the Glen View campus in resource rooms and in the library.
Kathleen Taylor lost everything in her third grade classroom in the blaze. Three other teachers lost most of their materials and supplies to smoke and water damage. While the smell of cinder permeated the air for weeks afterwards, it was only a matter of hours before the first donations started rolling in.
“The fire was on a Tuesday and I took $500 to Glen View on Wednesday,” Gailey said who initiated the fundraiser after viewing the wreckage.
Four decades ago, Gailey herself experienced a classroom fire when she taught in Nebraska.
“When your classroom burns down you don’t really realize what’s gone,” she explained. Gailey called upon the community to respond to the fire. “You can’t teach without materials,” she said.
Glen View was her home for 24 of the 41 years she taught.
Since the fire, Gailey has raised $6,500 in cash, and $950 in gift certificates for the teachers at Glen View.
“And there’s more dripping in,” she said.
Money has come from inside the community as well as from the schools, businesses and individuals in Hollister, Los Gatos, Morgan Hill, Redwood City, San Jose and Tracy.
According to principal Marilyn Ayala, additional money has filtered in bringing the cash donations to a figure approaching $10,000.
“The cash donations do not even begin to take into consideration the materials, supplies, books – just an endless list of donations that have been sent our way,” she said in a message.
The Glen View staff is overwhelmed by the generosity individuals and businesses have shown the school, Ayala said.
“It’s really very touching to (teachers) as individuals knowing how much the community has supported them in their loss,” she said. “We want to express our sincere gratitude to the community.”
A fund has been set up at the school that allows teachers to dip into the money as needed. Eventually, it will be opened to the rest of the Glen View staff, Gailey explained.
“You just read this and it’s amazing,” she said scanning the three page list of donors. “Every elementary school sent in a care package, too.”
Care packages contained binders and books teachers from other schools compiled to help the Glen View staff get off their feet.
“I’ve been thanked and thanked and thanked,” Gailey said. “But this fundraiser was not about me. … I know these teachers were terribly sad,” her voice breaking.
Gailey went everyday to Glen View after the fire searching for one of the teachers directly impacted. She stumbled into Vince Oberst, a third grade teacher who lost almost everything to water damage, and handed him an envelope with $250 inside.
“His eyes were just like this,” she said opening her eyes wide.
Another teacher Russell Taranto’s eyes misted when she handed him the first of many donations.
“Don’t spend it all on fancy dinners,” she joked.
Last week, Gailey visited the classrooms affected by the fire and was giving an ovation from the children when she entered.
“The children said that what they learned from their gift was not to be selfish,” Gailey said pouring over the thank you notes.
She was given three plaques by the Glen View staff. One was a thank you to the community, another for the anonymous donor of $1,000 and the last one was for Gailey.
“The teachers are so grateful,” she said. “I don’t know that the teachers and principal ever dreamed it would be this big. I just wanted to let the community know how much it’s appreciated.”
