Appalachian Regional Commission delegates participate in ceremonies for Hackleburg, Phil Campbell high schools
Hackleburg High School students unload the oaks which will be planted on the campus of the new school.
HACKLEBURG- Is 13 an unlucky number? Delegates from the Appalachian Regional Commission would beg to differ.
That's how many trees they had planted on the campuses of Hackleburg and Phil Campbell high schools on Wednesday. The two schools and their communities were heavily damaged or nearly destroyed by tornadoes on April 27, 2011.
The delegates visited Hackleburg and Phil Campbell for the tree-planting ceremonies prior to the start of an ARC conference hosted by Alabama in Florence. The 13 trees planted at new schools are representative of each state in ARC, a federal program designed to improve living standards in the nation's Appalachian region. ADECA coordinates the ARC in Alabama.
"I hope these trees will be living monuments to the devastation and the loss of life that occurred on that day," ADECA Director Jim Byard Jr. said. "But as these trees grow, I am hoping they become representative of communities that never gave up and the support they received all across the nation."
Thirteen oaks were planted at Hackleburg High School’s new football stadium within the shadow of the new school building which is still under construction.
While Hackleburg High School junior Farrah Haley is eager for the school building to open, she said the new stadium also created excitement among students. The team played its first game there this season.
"We're so excited. It doesn't feel right when you have to play your home games at someone else's field," said Haley, a member of the school's Future Farmers of America chapter which planted the donated trees.
Officials at Phil Campbell High School opted for the more ornamental crepe myrtle to fill the grounds of the school building. Students were able to move into the school about a month ago.
"If you had been here (at the school site) three years ago, it was a lot different," Phil Campbell Mayor Steve Bell said. "It was pretty much a blank slate."
Earl Gohl, federal co-chair of ARC, visited each community on Wednesday with ARC representatives and lauded each for continuing long-term recovery from the storms.
"You should be proud. A lot of progress has been made," he said.
ADECA Director Jim Byard Jr. speaks at the ceremony at Hackleburg High School.