JACKSBORO, Texas — Students affected by Texas tornadoes in Jacksboro, northwest of DFW, returned to class on Tuesday. Counselors were on duty to help kids cope with the storm. 

What You Need To Know

  • Students at Jacksboro Elementary School returned to class on Tuesday following a tornado that damaged the campus

  • The building will still need a great deal of construction and repairs before officials deem it safe

  • Students were divided between the undamaged middle school, a church and a lodge

  • Counselors were at the school to assist with students’ mental health following the storm

One week and one day after a major tornado hit Jacksboro Elementary School, there is still a lot of cleanup left to do. Students returned to classes on Tuesday, but not inside their normal building. Students are split between a church, a lodge and the middle school, which was not damaged in the storm.

Ten-year-old Mackenzee Edwards was extremely close to the spot where the tornado hit.

“I was in the school in one of the main hallways when it happened, and I was with my mom,” she said.

Her mother, Heather Edwards, is a teacher at Jacksboro Elementary School, which sustained some of the worst damage in town. Mackenzee’s twin, Miranda Edwards, was at home with her father.

“It was my dad, my niece, and me,” Miranda explained. “Because we were babysitting my niece.”

On Monday night at the Edwards home, exactly one week after the tornado, the girls were making sandwiches, packing their lunch, filling water bottles, packing their backpacks and picking out their outfits for the next day. Students have been out of school for a week. On Tuesday morning, they went back to class.

“I’m excited and nervous,” Mackenzee said. “We’re just going to be in a bigger school. And there’s going to be a lot of changes. It’s freakin’ me out.”

The twins will go to the middle school with the other fifth graders. That school did not sustain damage. They have not seen their friends for a week, while getting over a horrific experience.

“It’s weird. It’s just been a while,” Mackenzee said, while spreading peanut butter on a piece of white bread. “Even though I can talk to them, still, I want to be able to see them.”

Being separated during such a traumatic event is something they have been struggling with all week.

“If the winds get really strong, and I can hear it at night, it wakes me up and just freaks me out,” Mackenzee said.

“I was already really afraid of thunderstorms, like the sounds, you know? Now, I am gonna be more scared because of what happened,” Miranda explained.

Miranda and Mackenzee went to bed Monday night with intentions to be brave on Tuesday. Their father, Ben Edwards is dropping them off at the middle school. Their mother, Heather, is assigned to a different location. It is the first time their mother will be further away during school than just a few classrooms.

“We haven’t ever done it before. So It’s a little bit scary,” Mackenzee said. “We can’t be, like, running to her for our problems.”

Ben said the girls are still shaken up from the storm a week later.

“Mackenzee had a hard time the first couple of days, just like my wife, since they were actually in the tornado,” he explained. “Then Miranda has high anxiety, and it’s rubbed off on her.”

At the drop-off spot, the girls seem apprehensive, but prepared.

“This is where we’re going to be going to school now. So we’re in the drop-off line about to go in to the school,” Mackenzee said.

Teachers are there to direct students so they do not get lost. Staff spent the weekend preparing makeshift classrooms.

“You’re going in the auditorium, and there will be a sign where your teacher’s name is,” a teacher said, while walking Miranda and Mackenzee from the car to the door.

Jacksboro Elementary School Principal Michael Qualls said he does not know exactly how long the school will be under construction. It will be in repair for at least three weeks, and possibly through the end of the school year. Qualls said they will check progress every Friday.

“Our kids are so resilient. Just like they were on Monday. They were scared, but they were overcomers,” Qualls said through a grin. “And today, the smiles, the joy, the laughter, it just … it’s just so special.”

Counselors were available at all locations to assist students wanting to cope with the storm and its aftereffects.

“Our two main focuses this week are learn and play. I mean — love and play,” Qualls laughed. “We’re just gonna love on them and play with them today.”