Experience of a Lifetime.

My name is Scott Breyfogle and I am a math teacher at the Maple Valley Anthon-Oto high school located in Mapleton, IA, a rural northwest Iowa town.  I also am the head track coach, assistant football coach, and weightroom coordinator here.  This is my fourth year teaching at this school of about 220 students and has been a wonderful experience.  I feel like I am very organized person and am always prepared for anything that can happen on a given school day.  Nothing could have prepared me for what the last few weeks have been like.

If you have been watching the news or reading the paper, no matter what news or what paper, you probably saw that my small town was hit by a tornado on Saturday, April 9th at about 7:30 PM.  About 60% of the town was either damaged or destroyed.  The aftermath of this event has been absolutely chaotic. The blessing of the whole ordeal is that no one was killed and only minor injuries were reported.

Last week was a blur as school turned into town cleanup with the kids.  A lot of teachers and kids worked long hours alongside thousands of volunteers last week as we tried to move tin, trees, and construction debris to the curbs so they could be hauled away by the big rigs.  The whole experience has given me new perspective on a lot of things.  The most impressive thing has been particpating in and watching the cleanup process.  That first Sunday after the tornado I met a middle aged man from Parkerburg, IA.  I asked him if he had relatives or friends here and he said he was here because he had experienced what it was like and how many strangers helped him out. 

The stories of this tornado will live forever and the spirit of this small community of around 1300 people has been amazing.  We have a long way to go until life is normal here in Mapleton, but I look forward to being part of what is a bright future for this town.