As state and local firefighters continue to fight the Palisades and Eaton fires that have devastated the Los Angeles area, Oak Park High School students came together on Jan. 16 to show their support. A collaboration between ASB, Advanced Peer Counseling and school staff stocked the Pavilion with markers and colored paper. Students were invited to write messages of appreciation and decorate their cards.
“I think it’s great to give back to the people that gave so much,” junior Ryan Hashemi said. “[Firefighters] protect our communities so much…I think it’s just really important to try to do at least what we can for them.”
Many service-focused clubs on campus volunteer by writing cards to senior citizens, hospital patients or essential workers. As the fires burned in the first week of this semester, most hadn’t held their first club meeting yet, let alone set anything up. Science teacher and adviser to the club Care Crafts Shaye Uyematsu partnered with Brenda Pasqua and Principal Matt McClenahan to create the school-wide event.
“The firefighters have done a lot for us,” sophomore Emily Noy said. “I think they deserve some credit.”
Pasqua used her connections to various local fire stations to facilitate card distribution, and ASB members took the cards to various departments. To maximize engagement, APC held their weekly Beginning Peer Counseling club meeting at the event.
For OPHS students, the second semester began with a three-day hiatus from classes due to fires in L.A. County. Though removed from the devastation of the Palisades and Eaton fires, which have burned over 35,000 acres to date, concerns over air quality and power outages spurred by high winds led to a succession of shut-downs across Oak Park Unified School District.
On Thursday, Jan. 9, portions of Oak Park were advised to evacuate due to the newly ignited Kenneth wildfire in Hidden Hills. Though the fire was quickly contained, its proximity brought back reminders of the 2018 Woolsey Fire, which burned multiple Oak Park homes and led to a complete evacuation.
While students are now back in school, and winds and fire danger have subsided, the weight of the fires’ destruction hangs over the campus. Many students and staff know at least someone who lost everything to the fires, and the death toll between the Palisades and Eaton fires has climbed to at least 25. Thanks to the tireless work of firefighters from across the country and even other nations, the fires are now near full containment.
Uyematsu credited the event with playing a small role in giving back to firefighters, a practice of gratitude that could in turn be therapeutic for those affected in any way.
“[The card-making event] was important just because there are so many families that have been affected, or they have friends and family that were,” Uyematsu said.
